Complexity, hierarchy and biophysics of cancer cells

Tumours are highly heterogeneous, even for the same individual. Cancer cell growth, among other factors, depends on the dynamical interactions between the cell and its extracellular matrix (ECM). Besides random genomic mutations, signal transductions also activate cell growth via mechanical, thermodynamic, and electrical polar interactions between the microenvironment of ECM and cell’s stress proteins. A combination of state-of-the-art image analysis of cancer cells, phosphorylation reactions, and robust mathematical theories of information and hierarchy identifies the size distribution of nanoparticles (NPs) in the cell’s ECM and the type of physical forces and interactions that activate cancer cell growth and metastasis. It is found that cancer is progressing via electrical dipole interactions between NPs in the ECM and the MIDAS or ADMIDAs binding sites of cell integrins. The integrin activation and tumor cell growth were also placed within the frame of NP’s electrical polarization using microwave fields. By applying quantum field theory, it is found that the quantum interaction between polarized NPs and microwave fields is a key player for cancer cell proliferation. The work contributes towards recognizing different cytoskeletal stressing modes in cancer cells.

Key Publications

Nanoscale Res. Lett. 2018, 13, 370

The Integrin Interactome, Methods and Protocols, Springer Nature 2021, 2217, 197