In the chapter "Adventures in Bodybuilding," Neil Shubin emphasizes the importance of how cells can "talk" to each other to cooperate in processes such as making the skin smooth and coordinating the growth of different bones, such as those in our arms and legs. What are some specific examples of how cells communicate--Shubin gives an example of how a molecule can attach to another as a signal for a process to begin, but this is a very general example. In addition, Shubin also discusses how when "the finely tuned balance among different parts of bodies breaks down, the individual creature can die" (Shubin 118). What are the specific mechanisms that are disrupted which allow these cells to "break the rules" of cell cooperation, and how can this disruption be prevented? Perhaps discuss more of how cancer can affect the body, one of the very common diseases resulting from an inability of cells to stop dividing, causing the growth of tumors, many of which are harmful to the body.
Kathy Li, kathy2132@gmail.com
One way that cells communicate is by positive and negative feedback. For example, insulin and glucagon need to communicate with each other in order to regulate a person's blood glucose level (Campbell). This is done by negative feedback. This type of cell communication can be disrupted when the cell ignores the signal to make insulin. This is what happens with diabetics; their cells do not have the ability to respond to insulin(University of Utah). A way to solve this problem of cell communication is to inject insulin into the bloodstream. Cell communication and cooperation can also be disrupted by multiple sclerosis, a disease in which wrappings around nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord destroyed, and therefore those nerve cells can not transmit signals to each other (University of Utah). Cell communication can also be disrupted by excessive signaling. For example, when someone has a stroke, glutamate, a signaling molecule is released in high concentrations which kills cells in the brian, making them unable to communicate (University of Utah).
ReplyDeleteCancer is another disease that results when cell communication goes wrong. When intracellular communication fails, cancer cells break away from a specific tumor and grow in other parts of the body. This is known as metastasis, which is very dangerous. Two ways to treat cancer are radiation therapy and chemotherapy, which destroy cells that do not have the ability to communicate with other cells, and therefore keep dividing, causing cancer(National Cancer Institute).
Sources:
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/badcom/
AP Biology- Campbell Reese
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/treatment/types-of-treatment
Marissa Lobl marissa.lobl@gmail.com
Marissa mentioned the cells in the body that help regulate blood-glucose levels and how Diabetes is a condition in which insulin-making cells never get the message to actually produce insulin. Along the lines of potential life threatening diseases/conditions, diseased hearts can be caused by poor cell-cell communication between heart muscle cells. “The heartbeat is controlled by rapid conduction of an electrical current between heart muscle cells. Central to passage of the electrical current are structures known as gap junctions, low resistance conduits that link heart muscle cells and consist of proteins known as connexins” (Sciencedaily.com). When a heart has a sufficient amount of connexins on the surface of its muscle cells, the heart will beat at a nice, regular, controlled pace. Connexins, metaphorically, are like little wires that connect heart muscle cells to one another, and these muscle cells contract when an electrical current is passed through the connexins on their surface. Robin Shaw and colleagues, at the University of California at San Francisco, found out that the protein EB1, which delievers connexins to gap junctions, were absent in diseased hearts. The absence of EB1 often resulted in an irregular heart beat, which could be very deadly (Sciencedaily.com). This lethal heart condition was thought to be caused by oxidative stress, which “is caused by an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen and a biological system's ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or easily repair the resulting damage” (news-medical.net). This condition is warned on TV advertisements all the time! It’s just in simpler language. Oxidative stress gives light to the “free radicals” that the V8 commercials always warn you about, and what is always said to reduce the activity of these “free radicals”, which are unstable oxygen molecules,? Antioxidants! The most effective way to prevent oxidative stress is to consume adequate amounts of antioxidants, which can be found in many fruits such as blueberries, pomegranates, and tomatoes: “Antioxidants are key because they can prevent and heal the damage of one of the leading causes of disease and aging that you may never hear about: oxidative stress” (bodyecology.com). These free radicals can give rise to cancerous cells because they are radioactive molecules. These molecules give off poisonous radiation that can alter cell-cell communication, which can lead to cancer (which Marissa already explained).
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