Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2026
07:34
The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions
Published on: February 16, 2017
Cell-cell signaling drives the evolution of complex traits: introduction-lung evo-devo
1Laboratory for Evolutionary Preventive Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Laboratory for Evolutionary Preventive Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA.
Integrative and Comparative Biology
|July 8, 2010
Summary
The evolution of complex physiology, including the lung and heart, is driven by cell-cell communication networks. This "middle-out" approach reveals how signaling integrates genes and phenotypes across species.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Physiology
- Cell biology
Background:
- Physiology integrates biological systems with the environment via cell-cell interactions.
- Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs) have been used to understand lung biology development, homeostasis, regeneration, and aging.
- A cell-cell communication model can predict phenotypic consequences of signaling failures based on evolutionary principles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the evolutionary origins of vertically integrated mechanisms for cell-cell communication.
- To understand how cell-cell signaling forms the basis for complex physiological traits from sponges to humans.
- To present a novel mechanistic approach for integrating genes and phenotypes.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs) applied to cell-cell communication.
- Evolutionary principles applied to predict phenotypic consequences of signaling failures.
- Phylogenetic analysis of physiological system evolution.
Main Results:
- Oxygen-induced differentiation of alveolar myocytes into adipocytes was crucial for lung evolution in terrestrial animals.
- Adipocytes protect lungs from oxygen radicals, support endothermy, and produce leptin, enhancing lung function.
- Co-evolution of the lung, adrenals, and heart, with heart development influencing liver induction, supporting neocortex evolution.
Conclusions:
- Physiological systems evolve through a "middle-out" integration of cell-cell signaling, not just "top-down" control.
- This approach provides a framework for understanding the phylogenetic origins of complex traits.
- Cell-cell communication is a fundamental driver of physiological evolution across diverse species.
Related Concept Videos
01:23Overview of Cell Signaling
Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate with the environment.
Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch...
Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch...
01:23Overview of Cell Signaling
Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate with the environment.
Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch...
Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch...
02:03What is Cell Signaling?
Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate to respond to the environment.
02:03What is Cell Signaling?
Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate to respond to the environment.
01:22Diversity in Cell Signaling Responses
The physiological function of a cell and cellular communication are outcomes of a range of extrinsic signals, intracellular signaling pathways, and cellular responses. No two cell types express the same repertoire of signaling components. Receptors are highly selective for their cognate ligands, but once activated, they can alter multiple cellular processes such as DNA transcription, protein synthesis, and metabolic activity.
Graded and Abrupt Responses
Some signaling systems generate...
Graded and Abrupt Responses
Some signaling systems generate...
00:57Cellular Differentiation
How does a complex organism such as a human develop from a single cell? It all starts from a single fertilized egg which gives rise to a vast array of cell types, such as nerve cells, muscle cells, and epithelial cells that characterize the adult? Throughout development and adulthood, cellular differentiation leads cells to assume their final morphology and physiology. Differentiation is the process by which unspecialized cells become specialized to carry out distinct functions.
A zygote is a...
A zygote is a...