Biophysical control of plasticity and patterning in regeneration and cancer

" ... it is worth considering the role of bioelectricity in tissue plasticity and patterning in the context of regeneration [113]. Similarly, the bioelectric states of cancer cells and the tumors they form differ markedly from healthy, somatic counterparts [114]; however, they share significant overlap with those of embryonic and regenerating tissues." {Credits 1}

" EM fields and applied currents are known modulators of cancer, with both pro- and anti-carcinogenic properties that are critically dependent on the frequency and amplitude of the applied signal. Interestingly, endogenous EM fields have been observed in malignant tissues [218]. The direction and magnitude of EM fields across tumors are highly variable due to the disorganized nature of the cytoarchitecture [219]." {Credits 1}

" Endogenous photon emissions are coupled to many classic cancer biomarkers. UPEs correlate with stress indicators such as ROS and RNS, microtubule dynamics, cell cycle progression, and gene transcription [235, 236]. Notably, wavelength-dependent signatures of UPE emissions (using filters for 420 nm, 620 nm, and 950 nm), including the ratio of infrared-to-ultraviolet emission counts, can discriminate malignant and non-malignant cancer cells and are predicted to converge with the spectral properties of delocalized electrons from linearized peptide chains in proteins associated with gene expression [246]. It may even be possible to discriminate cancerous and non-cancerous cells using very narrow-band filters for UPEs around 500 nm [247]. Further, when melanoma cells die, the spectral characteristics of their UPEs shift markedly and respond with specificity to different biochemical activators and blockers [248]." {Credits 1}

Etc, etc.

{Credits 1} 🎪Murugan, N.J., Cariba, S., Abeygunawardena, S. et al. Biophysical control of plasticity and patterning in regeneration and cancer. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 81, 9 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-023-05054-6. © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License.