New study outlines cellular communication fundamental to life

Researchers with two U.S. universities have discovered a mechanism of intercellular communication that helps explain how biological systems function properly most of the time.

The work, by physicists from Oregon State University (OSU) and Purdue University, shed light on the interaction between cells and suggested that some of the damage done by cancer cells can be seen as what the researchers call a "failure to communicate."

Cells are known to have various types of sensory abilities that are key to their function, such as sensing light, heat, nerve signals, damage, chemicals or other inputs. In the process, which is fundamental to the function of life, a chemical stimulus called ATP functions as a signaling molecule, which, in turn, causes calcium levels in a cell to rise and decline, and tells a cell it's time to do its job -- whether that be sending a nerve impulse, seeing a bird in flight or repairing a wound.

"We've understood for some time the basics of cellular sensory function and how it helps a cell respond to its environment," said Bo Sun, an assistant professor of physics in OSU's College of Science and a corresponding author on the study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The thing is, individual cells don't always get the message right, their sensory process can be noisy, confusing, and they make mistakes," Sun was quoted as saying in a OSU news release.

"But there's strength in numbers, and the collective sensory ability of many cells working together usually comes up with the right answer. This collective communication is essential to life."

In the study, researchers found that when cells meet, a small channel usually forms between them what is called a gap junction. On an individual level, a cell in response to ATP begins to oscillate, part of its call to action. But with gap junction-mediated communications, despite significant variability in sensing from one cell to another, the sensitivity to ATP is increased. Oscillation is picked up and becomes more uniform.

This interactive chatter continues, and a preponderance of cells receiving one sensation persuade a lesser number of cells reporting a different sensation that they must be wrong.

By working in communication and collaboration, most of the cells eventually decide what the correct sensory input is, and the signal that gets passed along is pretty accurate. With this accuracy of communication, cells in a heart chamber collectively decide to contract at the appropriate time, and blood gets pumped, dozens of times a minute, for a lifetime. Neuron cells send accurate signals. Photoreceptor cells see clearly.

Acknowledging that research was done with fibroblast cells, which are used in wound healing, the researchers said the results should apply to many cellular sensing mechanisms.

Cancer cells, by contrast, are poor communicators. The cells resist the process of collective communication, and when enough of them are present, the communicative process begins to lessen and break down, causing biologic damage.

"These processes of collective sensory communication are usually accurate, but sometimes work better than others. Mistakes are made," Sun said. "Even so, this process makes life possible. And when everything goes just right, the results can be remarkable." Endit