Integration of intracellular signaling: Biological analogues of wires, processors and memories organized by a centrosome 3D reference system.
Bio Systems November 1, 2018 Nadezhda Barvitenko, Alfons Lawen, Muhammad Aslam et al.
A theoretical analysis proposes that the complex of the plasma membrane and the microtubule-based cytoskeleton acts as a system for transmitting, storing, and processing information in living cells. The work integrates three existing theories: the Penrose-Hameroff theory of consciousness (Orchestrated Objective Reduction), the centrosome as a reference system for constructing a 3D cell map, and the Heimburg-Jackson model of nerve pulse propagation as soliton-like electro-mechanical waves. These ideas together offer a qualitative model for decision-making processes during cell differentiation, paving the way for live-cell observation of information processing by the microtubule-based cytoskeleton and cell fate decisions.