Katakai Tomoya, Okazaki Taku
Department of Immunology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata 950-8510, Japan.
Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0032, Japan.
Biophys Physicobiol. 2024 Feb 9;21(Supplemental):e211006. doi: 10.2142/biophysico.bppb-v21.s006. eCollection 2024.
In a post-growth multicellular organism, the phenomenon in which a small number of rare cells can be the starting point for inducing a dramatic change in the entire system is considered a "biological singularity." The immune response and cancer can be regarded as singularity phenomena in mammals, but their nature is fundamentally different. The immune response is considered a "programmed" singularity, whereas cancer is an "unprogrammed" singularity. These two systems perpetually engage in a cycle of attack and defense within the organism. The outcome is depending on the wining system, which determines whether the individual experiences a state resembling light or darkness. However, the overall mechanism of the competition remains unclear and is expected to be elucidated with future innovations in bioimaging technologies. Immune checkpoint blockade therapy is a means by which the two singularity balances can be artificially manipulated; therefore, mechanistic insight is necessary for cancer treatment strategies. Altogether, these findings provide a different perspective crucial for understanding the behavior of dynamic cell populations in multicellular organisms.
在生长后的多细胞生物体中，少数稀有细胞能够成为引发整个系统发生巨大变化的起点，这种现象被视为一种“生物学奇点”。免疫反应和癌症可被看作是哺乳动物中的奇点现象，但其本质却有着根本区别。免疫反应被认为是一种“程序性”奇点，而癌症则是一种“非程序性”奇点。这两个系统在生物体内不断地进行攻防循环。结果取决于获胜的系统，它决定了个体是经历类似光明还是黑暗的状态。然而，竞争的整体机制仍不清楚，有望随着生物成像技术未来的创新而得到阐明。免疫检查点阻断疗法是一种可以人为操纵这两种奇点平衡的手段；因此，对于癌症治疗策略来说，深入了解其机制是必要的。总之，这些发现为理解多细胞生物中动态细胞群体的行为提供了一个至关重要的不同视角。
