A group of scientists from Barcelona and Harvard University in Boston described how tiny single-celled creatures are capable of learning and developing a kind of cellular memory, a behavior that has always been considered exclusive to animals with brains.
This is clear from a study led by a research team at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona and Harvard Medical School in Boston, which could represent a significant change in the way the fundamental units of life are perceived. .
Specifically, the researchers used a computational tool to better understand the behavior of the unicellular ciliate Stentor roeseli, which is trumpet-shaped and can measure two millimeters, making it one of the largest unicellular organisms that exist.
This finding suggests that these small units of life could open the door to discovering how cancer cells develop resistance to chemotherapy or how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.
“Cells are considered entities with a basic decision-making capacity, based on learning from their environments, as opposed to entities that follow pre-programmed genetic instructions,” explained the Harvard Medical School professor and co-author of the study. Jeremy Gunawardena.
The study, published in the journal Current Biology, analyzed habituation, the process by which an organism gradually stops responding to a repeated stimulus, the same process by which humans stop listening to the ticking of a clock or are less distracted by the flashing lamps.
“These creatures are very different from animals with brains. Learning would mean that they use internal molecular networks that somehow perform functions similar to those performed by neurons in the brain,” said co-author and researcher of the study at the CRG Rosa Martínez.
The simulations used in the research suggest that cells use a combination of at least two molecular circuits to refine their response to a stimulus and reproduce all the hallmarks of habituation seen in more complex life forms.
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Scientists investigate learning and memory of the most basic model of life
One of the key findings is the requirement for “time scale separation” in the behavior of molecular circuits, where some reactions occur much faster than others.
“We think this could be a type of cellular memory, allowing cells to react immediately and influence a future response,” Martínez said.
The finding may also illuminate a debate between neuroscience and cognitive research, disciplines that, for years, have had different views on how the strength of habituation is related to the frequency or intensity of stimulation.
Neuroscientists focus on observable behavior, pointing out that organisms show stronger habituation with more frequent or less intense stimuli, while cognitive scientists insist on proving the existence of internal changes and memory formation after habituation.
Following their methodology, habituation appears to be stronger for less frequent or more intense stimuli.
The study shows that the behavior of the models aligns with both points of view, since during habituation the response decreases more with more frequent or less intense stimuli, but after habituation, the response to a common stimulus is also stronger in these cases.
The research also deepens the understanding of the way learning and memory operate at the most basic level of life.
Thus, if individual cells can “remember,” this could also help explain how cancer cells develop resistance to chemotherapy or how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, situations in which cells appear to “learn” from their surroundings.
The work could lay the groundwork for experimental scientists to design laboratory experiments and test these predictions.
“Our approach could help the scientific community prioritize which experiments are most likely to produce worthwhile results, save time and resources, and generate new advances,” Martínez concluded.
With information from EFE
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