Evolutionary Biology: Cell-Cell Communication, and Complex Disease

Description

An integrative view of the evolution of genetics and the natural world

Even in this advanced age of genomics, the evolutionary process of unicellular and multicellular organisms is continually in debate. Evolutionary Biology, Cell–Cell Communication, and Complex Disease challenges current wisdom by using physiology to present an integrative view of the nature, origins, and evolution of fundamental biological systems.

Providing a deeper understanding of the way genes relate to the traits of living organisms, this book offers useful information applying evolutionary biology, functional genomics, and cell communication studies to complex disease. Examining the 4.5 billion-year evolution process from environment adaptations to cell-cell communication to communication of genetic information for reproduction, Evolutionary Biology hones in on the "why and how" of evolution by uniquely focusing on the cell as the smallest unit of biologic structure and function.

Based on empirically derived data rather than association studies, Evolutionary Biology covers:

• A model for forming testable hypotheses in complex disease studies
• The integrating role played by the evolution of metabolism, especially lipid metabolism
• The evolutionary continuum from development to homeostasis
• Regeneration and aging mediated by signaling molecules

Ambitious and game-changing Evolutionary Biology suggests that biology began as a mechanism for reducing energy within the cell, defying the Second Law of Thermodynamics. An ideal text for those interested in forward thinking scientific study, the insights presented in Evolutionary Biology help practitioners effectively comprehend the evolutionary process.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• About the Authors

• 1. THE CELLULAR ORIGIN OF VERTEBRATES
• The Origins of Unicellular Life on Earth
• Prokaryotes versus Eukaryotes
• Coevolution of traits
• Cholesterol Facilitates Lipid Rafts for Cell–Cell Communication
• The Endomembrane System
• The Cellular Mechanism of Evolution
• Why Evolve?
• Cell–Cell Communication and Aging

• 2. REDUCING LUNG PHYSIOLOGY TO ITS MOLECULAR PHENOTYPES
• Hormonal Acceleration of Lung Development
• Neutral Lipid Traffi cking and Lung Evolution
• Other Examples of Cellular Cooperativity
• Summary

• 3. A CELL–MOLECULAR STRATEGY FOR SOLVING THE EVOLUTIONARY PUZZLE
• Rationale for Cell–Molecular Evolution
• Mechanism of Mammalian Lung Development
• Avian Lung Structure–Function Relationship: The Exception that Proves the Rule
• Does Ontogeny Recapitulate Phylogeny? The Role of PTHrP in Lung Development
• Interrelationship between PTHrP, Development, Physiology, and Repair: Is Repair a Recapitulation of Ontogeny and Phylogeny?

• 4. THE EVOLUTION OF CELL–CELL COMMUNICATION
• Cell–Cell Communication as the Mechanistic Basis for Evolutionary Biology
• The Darwinian Biologic Spacetime Continuum and Einstein’s Vision of the Universe
• Reverse Engineering of Physiologic Traits as a Portal for Viewing Evolution
• Cell–Cell Communication as the Basis for the Evolution of Metazoans
• Understanding Lung Evolution from the Middle Out
• The Cell–Cell Communication Model of Lung Evolution Traces Contemporary Phenotypes Back to Ancestral Phenotypes
• Predictive Value of the Lung Cell–Cell Communication Model for Understanding the Evolution of Physiologic Systems
• Sexual Dimorphism of Lung Development: A Case Study in Cell–Cell Communication and Evolutionary Plasticity
• Androgen Affects the Expression of Growth Factors Involved in Lung Development
• Evidence for an Association between Steroid-Resistant/Responsive Phenotypes and Human Lymphocyte Antigen (HLA) Haplotypes

• 5. HOW TO INTEGRATE CELL-MOLECULAR DEVELOPMENT, HOMEOSTASIS, ECOLOGY, AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY: THE MISSING LINKS
• Neutral Theory versus Intelligent Design
• Internal Selection Theory
• The Counterintuitive Nature of Physiology and Solution to the Dead Sea Scrolls Puzzle
• The Continuum from Microevolution to Macroevolution
• cis Regulation and Adaptive Evolution
• Evolution of cis Regulatory Mechanisms

• 6. FROM CELL–CELL COMMUNICATION TO THE EVOLUTION OF INTEGRATED PHYSIOLOGY
• Cell–cell Signaling and Alveolar Development: A Reductionist Approach to the Evolution of Physiologic Traits
• An Integrated, Empiric, Middle–Out Approach to Physiology
• A Molecular Evolutionary Link between the Lung and the Kidney?
• The Berner Hypothesis and Emergence of the Adipocyte: The Evolutionary Origins of the Lipofi broblast
• Lung Biology as a Cipher for Evolution
• Do Stretch Effects on PTHrP Expression Reflect Its Role in Adapting to Gravity?
• Wolff’s Law Works for Both Bone and Lung
• Functional Relationship between the External and Internal Environments
• An Evolutionary Vertical Integration of the Phylogeny and Ontogeny of the Thyroid

• 7. EXPLOITING CELL–CELL COMMUNICATION ACROSS SPACETIME TO DECONSTRUCT EVOLUTION
• Somewhere between the Gene and the Phenotype Lies the Process of Evolution
• A Functional Genomic Approach to Evolution as an Example of Terminal Addition
• Seeking Deep Homologies in Lung Evolution
• Systems Biology Based on Cell–Cell Communication
• Vertical Integration of Leptin Signaling, Human Evolution, and the Trojan Horse Effect
• Leptin and Human Evolution: Food for Thought

• 8. THE PERIODIC TABLE OF BIOLOGY
• The Prospect of a Periodic Table of Biology
• Cellular Cooperation Is Key
• Elemental Biology
• PTHrP as an Archetype
• Evolution as the Solution
• Ramping Up a Mathematical Model of Evolution
• The Anthropic Principle Results from the Evolution of Cell–Cell Interactions

• 9. VALUE ADDED BY THINKING IN TERMS OF THE CELL–CELL COMMUNICATION MODEL FOR EVOLUTION
• This is Not a Just-So Story
• Beyond Genomics
• From Fat Cells to Integrated Physiology
• Molecular Homologies Distinguish between the Evolutionary Forest and Trees
• The Oxygen–Cholesterol–Surfactant–Membrane Connection
• Cholesterol Metabolism as the Data Operating System for Vertebrate Biology?
• Translation of Genomics into the Periodic Table for Biology
• Deep Homologies
• Selection Pressure for Cell–Cell Communication: The Key to Understanding Evolution

• 10. CELL–CELL COMMUNICATION AS THE BASIS FOR PRACTICING CLINICAL MEDICINE
• Cell–Cell Communication Maintenance and Breakdown Represent Heath and Disease, Respectively
• Cell–Cell Communications as a Framework for Human Evolution
• Canalization, Decanalization, and the Holistic Approach to the Practice of Medicine
• Exploiting Lung Evolution to Prevent and Treat Chronic Lung Disease
• Lung Evolution Explains the Magic of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
• The Paradox of Infecting the Lung in Order to Treat Lung Disease Caused by Infection
• Exploiting Lung Evolution to Prevent and Treat Smoking-Related Lung Damage
• The Trojan Horse Effect of Canalization
• Impetus for Evolutionary Science as an Integral Part of the Clinical Curriculum
• Application of Evolutionary Science to Bioethics
• Evolutionary Science, a Biologic Periodic Table, and a Unifi ed Theory of Biology

• Summary
• Name Index
• Subject Index

Author Information

John Torday, PhD, is Professor of Pediatrics and Ob/Gyn at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center where he is also Director of The Henry L. Guenther Laboratory for Cell/Molecular Research and Director of Laboratory for Evolutionary Preventive Medicine. He is the author of over 130 peer-reviewed articles, Dr. Torday specializes in pre and neo-natal lung development, particularly regarding cell-cell communication within this pathway.

V.K. Rehan, MD, is Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The recipient of numerous teaching honors, Dr. Rehan is involved both in treating patients and continuing research on neo and peri-natal respiratory issues and lung development.