Multiscale memory and bioelectric error correction in the cytoplasm-cytoskeleton-membrane system

Area of Science:

• Systems Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Cellular Physiology

Background:

• Organisms exhibit adaptive regulation of anatomy, physiology, and behavior to changing conditions.
• This adaptive regulation is crucial for development, remodeling, and regeneration, maintaining specific anatomical patterns.
• The relationship between the genome, cellular components, and pattern homeostasis requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the role of cellular-level constraints, particularly endogenous bioelectricity, in generating and propagating biological information.
• To explore the concept of biological memory beyond the genome, considering cellular structures.
• To discuss the implications for evolutionary developmental biology, regenerative medicine, and synthetic bioengineering.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing evidence on cellular constraints and biological information propagation.
• Focus on the cell membrane and cytoplasm as continuous structures for information transfer.
• Analysis of bioelectric and biochemical codes in the interstitial cellular environment.

Main Results:

• The genome is one of several multi-generational biological memory systems.
• Cellular structures, including the cell membrane and cytoplasm, act as conduits for bioelectric and biochemical information.
• Biological memory is a multi-scale phenomenon.

Conclusions:

• Understanding information propagation in non-genomic cellular structures is vital for evolutionary developmental biology.
• Functional studies of cellular information transfer have significant implications for regenerative medicine and synthetic bioengineering.
• Bioelectricity and other non-genomic mechanisms are critical for pattern homeostasis and biological memory.