Cells constantly navigate a dynamic environment, facing ever-changing conditions and challenges. A new study from the Moffitt Cancer Center, published in iScience, has uncovered a previously unknown information processing system that allows cells to make rapid decisions independent of their genes.
For decades, scientists have viewed DNA as the sole source of cellular information, with the genome instructing cells on how to build proteins and carry out essential functions. However, the research team led by Dipesh Niraula, Ph.D., and Robert Gatenby, M.D., has discovered a nongenomic information system that operates alongside DNA, enabling cells to gather information from the environment and respond quickly to changes.
The study focused on the role of ion gradients across the cell membrane. These gradients, maintained by specialized pumps, represent an enormous reservoir of information that allows cells to monitor their environment continuously. When information is received at the cell membrane, it interacts with specialized gates in ion-specific channels, triggering a cascade of events that enables the cell to analyze and rapidly respond to the information.
Notably, the researchers found that the cytoskeleton, typically responsible for cell shape and movement, can also act as a highly dynamic intracellular wiring network to transmit ion-based information from the membrane to the intracellular organelles, including mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and the nucleus. This intricate network enables cells to make swift and informed decisions, critical for their survival and function.
"Our research reveals the capability of cells to harness transmembrane ion gradients as a means of communication, allowing them to sense and respond to changes in their surroundings rapidly," said Niraula. “This intricate network enables cells to make swift and informed decisions, critical for their survival and function.”