Description
Book SynopsisAn 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, CellCell 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 empiric
Trade Review
"…the book offers the biology-savvy reader with interesting insights into the contribution of cell-cell interactions to the development and evolution of phenotypes. Given the technical nature of the subject, this book will have particular appeal among researchers and students of cellular and molecular biology and among evolutionary biologists interested in the pathways linking genes to phenotypes. In keeping with the complexity of the topic, there is much to digest here, and readers knowledgeable in these fields will find interesting food for thought.” (Quarterly Reviews in Biology, 1 July 2013)
Table of ContentsPreface xi About the Authors xiii
1 THE CELLULAR ORIGIN OF VERTEBRATES 1
The Origins of Unicellular Life on Earth 1
Prokaryotes versus Eukaryotes 4
Coevolution of traits 5
Cholesterol Facilitates Lipid Rafts for Cell–Cell Communication 7
The Endomembrane System 9
The Cellular Mechanism of Evolution 10
Why Evolve? 11
Cell–Cell Communication and Aging 12
2 REDUCING LUNG PHYSIOLOGY TO ITS MOLECULAR PHENOTYPES 17
Hormonal Acceleration of Lung Development 17
Neutral Lipid Traffi cking and Lung Evolution 19
Other Examples of Cellular Cooperativity 23
Summary 24
3 A CELL–MOLECULAR STRATEGY FOR SOLVING THE EVOLUTIONARY PUZZLE 25
Rationale for Cell–Molecular Evolution 25
Mechanism of Mammalian Lung Development 28
Avian Lung Structure–Function Relationship: The Exception that Proves the Rule 32
Does Ontogeny Recapitulate Phylogeny? The Role of PTHrP in Lung Development 32
Interrelationship between PTHrP, Development, Physiology, and Repair: Is Repair a Recapitulation of Ontogeny and Phylogeny? 33
4 THE EVOLUTION OF CELL–CELL COMMUNICATION 35
Cell–Cell Communication as the Mechanistic Basis for Evolutionary Biology 36
The Darwinian Biologic Spacetime Continuum and Einstein’s Vision of the Universe 37
Reverse Engineering of Physiologic Traits as a Portal for Viewing Evolution 38
Cell–Cell Communication as the Basis for the Evolution of Metazoans 41
Understanding Lung Evolution from the Middle Out 42
The Cell–Cell Communication Model of Lung Evolution Traces Contemporary Phenotypes Back to Ancestral Phenotypes 43
Predictive Value of the Lung Cell–Cell Communication Model for Understanding the Evolution of Physiologic Systems 44
Sexual Dimorphism of Lung Development: A Case Study in Cell–Cell Communication and Evolutionary Plasticity 46
Androgen Affects the Expression of Growth Factors Involved in Lung Development 48
Evidence for an Association between Steroid-Resistant/Responsive Phenotypes and Human Lymphocyte Antigen (HLA) Haplotypes 49
5 HOW TO INTEGRATE CELL-MOLECULAR DEVELOPMENT, HOMEOSTASIS, ECOLOGY, AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY: THE MISSING LINKS 53
Neutral Theory versus Intelligent Design 54
Internal Selection Theory 54
The Counterintuitive Nature of Physiology and Solution to the Dead Sea Scrolls Puzzle 57
The Continuum from Microevolution to Macroevolution 58
cis Regulation and Adaptive Evolution 69
Evolution of cis Regulatory Mechanisms 70
6 FROM CELL–CELL COMMUNICATION TO THE EVOLUTION OF INTEGRATED PHYSIOLOGY 75
Cell–cell Signaling and Alveolar Development: A Reductionist Approach to the Evolution of Physiologic Traits 77
An Integrated, Empiric, Middle–Out Approach to Physiology 79
A Molecular Evolutionary Link between the Lung and the Kidney? 82
The Berner Hypothesis and Emergence of the Adipocyte: The Evolutionary Origins of the Lipofi broblast 83
Lung Biology as a Cipher for Evolution 85
Do Stretch Effects on PTHrP Expression Reflect Its Role in Adapting to Gravity? 85
Wolff’s Law Works for Both Bone and Lung 88
Functional Relationship between the External and Internal Environments 89
An Evolutionary Vertical Integration of the Phylogeny and Ontogeny of the Thyroid 91
7 EXPLOITING CELL–CELL COMMUNICATION ACROSS SPACETIME TO DECONSTRUCT EVOLUTION 95
Somewhere between the Gene and the Phenotype Lies the Process of Evolution 98
A Functional Genomic Approach to Evolution as an Example of Terminal Addition 100
Seeking Deep Homologies in Lung Evolution 102
Systems Biology Based on Cell–Cell Communication 105
Vertical Integration of Leptin Signaling, Human Evolution, and the Trojan Horse Effect 108
Leptin and Human Evolution: Food for Thought 109
8 THE PERIODIC TABLE OF BIOLOGY 115
The Prospect of a Periodic Table of Biology 115
Cellular Cooperation Is Key 116
Elemental Biology 118
PTHrP as an Archetype 118
Evolution as the Solution 119
Ramping Up a Mathematical Model of Evolution 121
The Anthropic Principle Results from the Evolution of Cell–Cell Interactions 124
9 VALUE ADDED BY THINKING IN TERMS OF THE CELL–CELL COMMUNICATION MODEL FOR EVOLUTION 125
This is Not a Just-So Story 126
Beyond Genomics 128
From Fat Cells to Integrated Physiology 128
Molecular Homologies Distinguish between the Evolutionary Forest and Trees 129
The Oxygen–Cholesterol–Surfactant–Membrane Connection 130
Cholesterol Metabolism as the Data Operating System for Vertebrate Biology? 131
Translation of Genomics into the Periodic Table for Biology 132
Deep Homologies 134
Selection Pressure for Cell–Cell Communication: The Key to Understanding Evolution 135
10 CELL–CELL COMMUNICATION AS THE BASIS FOR PRACTICING CLINICAL MEDICINE 139
Cell–Cell Communication Maintenance and Breakdown Represent Heath and Disease, Respectively 140
Cell–Cell Communications as a Framework for Human Evolution 140
Canalization, Decanalization, and the Holistic Approach to the Practice of Medicine 141
Exploiting Lung Evolution to Prevent and Treat Chronic Lung Disease 141
Lung Evolution Explains the Magic of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure 142
The Paradox of Infecting the Lung in Order to Treat Lung Disease Caused by Infection 143
Exploiting Lung Evolution to Prevent and Treat Smoking-Related Lung Damage 144
The Trojan Horse Effect of Canalization 145
Impetus for Evolutionary Science as an Integral Part of the Clinical Curriculum 146
Application of Evolutionary Science to Bioethics 147
Evolutionary Science, a Biologic Periodic Table, and a Unifi ed Theory of Biology 148
Summary 149
Name Index 151
Subject Index 153
