Signal circuit boards have been discovered inside human cells. Free Technical Library News

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Signal circuit boards found inside human cells

01.06.2019

Cells can format communication networks to change their behavior. The discovery of this network revolutionizes our understanding of how instructions travel around the cell.

It was previously thought that the various organs and structures inside the cell float in the open sea called the cytoplasm. Scientists assumed that the signals that tell the cell what to do are transmitted in waves, and the frequency of the waves is a crucial part of communication.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have found that information is transmitted through a network of guide wires that send signals over tiny, nanoscale distances.

The researchers argue that it is the movement of charged molecules across these tiny distances that transmits information, as in a computer microprocessor.

Localized signals are responsible for controlling cell activity, such as instructing muscle cells to relax or contract. When these signals reach the genetic material at the heart of the cell, called the nucleus, they signal subtle changes in structure, releasing certain genes so they can be expressed.

These changes in gene expression further alter the behavior of the cell. When, for example, a cell moves from a steady state to a growth phase, the network is completely reconfigured to transmit signals that turn on the genes necessary for growth.

The researchers say that understanding the code that controls this system could help understand diseases such as pulmonary hypertension and cancer and one day open up new treatment options.

The team made the discovery by studying the movement of charged calcium molecules inside cells, which are key signals that carry instructions inside cells.

Using powerful microscopes, they were able to observe this signaling system with computational techniques similar to those that made it possible to obtain the first ever image of a black hole.

The scientists say their results are an example of quantum biology, a growing field that uses quantum mechanics and theoretical chemistry to solve biological problems.

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