Unveiling the morphogenetic code A new path at the intersection of physical energies and chemical signaling

" The capability of biological systems to create dynamically evolving shapes, up to large-scale anatomy, raises a number of fundamental questions that are only partially addressed in terms of molecular signaling. Physical energies, including mechanical and electromagnetic waves, afford substantial control of somatic and stem cell fate under normal and pathological conditions." {Credits 1}

" Compounding the complexity of this emerging picture, cells are also exploiting the ability of a selected number of molecules or molecular complexes to behave as chromophores, that is generating electromagnetic radiation in the form of light to orchestrate targeted signaling processes [1,10-13]." {Credits 1}

" Concerning the cellular interior, there is now evidence that microtubuli act as a major source for the generation of both mechanical waves and electromagnetic signaling [20-22]. The mechanical buckling of microtubuli, coupled with their inherent electric polarity, is a major determinant in the spreading of mechanoelectrical signaling across the cellular boundaries [22]. Microtubuli are themselves displaying chromophore characteristics [23], a trait that may further contribute long-range intercellular connectedness through electromagnetic radiation (light). Overall, microtubuli can be viewed as a sort of bioelectronic circuit, whose oscillatory patterns exhibit the features of both synchronization and swarming [24,25]. These mechanisms may play a remarkable role in a form of biomolecular recognition that transcends the lock-and-the-key scheme of interaction, being rather based upon the participation of molecules in the construction of signaling processes through a mechanism of resonance. Novel hypotheses are now being formulated, considering the resonant vibrational profiles associated with the helix-loop-helix structure shared by signaling peptides and transcription factors [26-29], and the possibility that microtubuli act as a viscoelastic matrix assembling these molecules into synchronous resonating clusters [25,30]." {Credits 1}

" Interestingly, the use of these nanodevices provided evidence for the existence of intracellular electric fields that were not merely confined to the cellular membranes, but they were also ensuing within, and spreading throughout the cytosol [75-78]." {Credits 1}

" These findings strongly indicate that bioelectric fields play a major role in stem cell differentiation [79]. Bioelectric signaling not only is essential as a functional regulator of stem cell differentiation, but it also plays a relevant role in the maintenance of the differentiated state [81]" {Credits 1}

" Cellular electric fields, electromagnetic and light radiation, as well as nanomechanical oscillations, are now emerging as vibrational signatures, imparting informational messages that contribute to the onset, unfolding and continuous remodeling of forms and of their inherent functions." {Credits 1}

{Credits 1} 🎪 Tassinari R, Cavallini C, Olivi E, Taglioli V, Zannini C, Ventura C. Unveiling the morphogenetic code: A new path at the intersection of physical energies and chemical signaling. World J Stem Cells 2021; 13(10): 1382-1393. © 2021 The author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License.