Binot Christiane, Sadoc Jean-François, Chouard Claude-Henri
Private Researcher, St Martin de Ré, 17410 France.
Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, CNRS-UMR 8502 Paris-Saclay, France.
Heliyon. 2018 Jul 11;4(7):e00687. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00687. eCollection 2018 Jul.
Liquid crystals (LC) are an intermediate state between an ordered crystalline solid and a more disordered liquid. LCs (or mesophases) are ubiquitous in living systems, optimizing multiple biological functions that could not operate in purely solid or liquid environments as both mobility and organization are needed. One of us recently suggested that there is an information vector, shared by neurodegenerative and infectious pathologies, to be found within lipid rafts in an ordered liquid (Lo) form mediated by cholesterol. Here we extend this underlying mechanism to oncogenic processes. The specificity of our approach lies in highlighting the direct involvement of liquid crystals in early carcinogenic processes, by identifying specific metabolic pathways, with the intention of focusing research effort on this level, now that this has become technically feasible. Exploring LCs in living bodies reveals links between numerous oncogenic mechanisms. The approach is based on the geometric properties of amphiphilic (hydrophilic and lipophilic) plasma and intracellular membranes, the phospholipids of which are an example of the lamellar LC phase. These LCs underlie cell signaling and signaling pathways disorders at membrane level: consequently, they are directly concerned with deregulation underlying many cancerous processes. We demonstrate the implication of cancer cell membranes mesophases. That is in the membranes mesophases that are initiated most of metabolic pathways, leading to downstream pathogenic intracellular mechanisms. The concepts of order and of symmetry, in the mathematical sense, involved in condensed matter accompany informed adaptive supramolecular chemical processes in forming self-organizing mesogenic molecular assemblies. Multidisciplinary teamwork combining knowledge from different fields holds out the hope of therapeutic progress upstream of irreversible cancerous processes, while conserving the physiological integrity of the cells themselves.
液晶（LC）是介于有序晶体固体和无序程度更高的液体之间的中间状态。液晶（或中间相）在生命系统中无处不在，优化了多种生物功能，这些功能在纯粹的固体或液体环境中无法发挥作用，因为流动性和组织性都不可或缺。我们其中一人最近提出，在神经退行性和感染性疾病中存在一种信息载体，它以由胆固醇介导的有序液体（Lo）形式存在于脂筏中。在此，我们将这一潜在机制扩展到致癌过程。我们方法的独特之处在于，通过识别特定的代谢途径，突出液晶在早期致癌过程中的直接参与，鉴于这在技术上已可行，旨在将研究工作聚焦于这一层面。探索活体中的液晶揭示了众多致癌机制之间的联系。该方法基于两亲性（亲水和亲脂）质膜和细胞内膜的几何特性，其磷脂是层状液晶相的一个例子。这些液晶是膜水平细胞信号传导和信号通路紊乱的基础：因此，它们与许多癌症过程背后的失调直接相关。我们证明了癌细胞膜中间相的影响。也就是说，大多数代谢途径在膜中间相中启动，导致下游致病性细胞内机制。凝聚态物质中涉及的数学意义上的有序和对称概念，伴随着形成自组织介晶分子组装体的明智适应性超分子化学过程。跨学科团队合作结合不同领域的知识，为在不可逆癌症过程上游取得治疗进展带来了希望，同时保持细胞自身的生理完整性。
