Are you familiar with microtubules? I am very interested in the role microtubules seem to play in just about every aspect of intra- and inter-cellular communication.
I have some acquaintance with the microtubules of cilia and flagella. But I have not worked in that field since the 1980s, and am not up to date. If you Google scholar my name and cilia or flagella you will see a sample. I doubt it will serve your needs.
Iām not sure what you mean by āentertainment,ā I was thinking more in the interest of self-edification.
For instance, I love science, (fyi - I am only high school grad '73, but have been science enthusiast & consumer all my life) and I guess Iād have to admit it has always āentertainedā me, but itās also built the foundation and substance of my understanding of the physical world around me and my place in it, something I take very seriously as my old pals around here can attest to.
Or
For instance, I read this:
And my mind was filled with sparks, I know (lay-person roughly) about bone structure and the making various blood cells and components, but never though about it much deeper, because thatās where the articles ended. Then time passes, and science marches forward, then I hear āmicrocirculationā - and itās oh wow, that must be utterly fascinating and Iām wondering how it might tie into the various cells being produced by bone marrow and imagine there are some fascinating new chapters for me to catch up on.
There are a few honestly curious minds around here and CFI Forum is a place for casual discussion and if we can learn a little something along the way, so much the better.
Howard, I hope you find the inspiration and time to share a little.
I wonder if I am speaking to an AI-generated creation, since you do not reveal your name. Well, Alexa or Siri, I have been around long enough to be wary of dilatants who are more interested in stories (as āentertainmentā) that make them popular at soirees than learning. I am a member of two skeptic societies that confirm such caution. Harry Truman, one of my heroes, was āonly a high school gradā . I know too many college grads who wasted four years to become supervisors who knew less than the workers they led. It seems to me that there are at least two ways to fulfill oneās āfascinationā with scientific subjects: 1. They can become scientifically literate enough to answer questions on an exam about the subject. 2. They can focus on the process of science to understand how the specialist of a subject obtained the reported facts and came to the reported conclusions. The first way leads to an accumulation of factoids. The second way leads to an understanding of science. I would hope that the second way would be more appealing to a CFI member, because it provides a more solid footing for defending science. The microcirculation is where most of the business of the blood is conducted. It is where nutrients and oxygen are delivered to cells of the surrounding tissue, and chemical waste is picked up. It is also where chemicals and cells that communicate with other tissues of the body are picked up and delivered. My interest was the way microcirculation responds to bone implants and other causes of wounds.
H. Winet
Oh boy, this sure went south in a hurry.
Incidentally,
Cool, and Iāll bet incredible things have been discovered in the past decade or two, that were unimagined previously. Be fun to hear about from someone who actually knows first hand what theyāre talking about.
Although I kind of know how to use Google, (thought it seems to be getting sloppier and prompting all sort of garbage not remotely connected to my query) but Iām sure I can trawl up some interesting stories - though Iāll bet, you could do a splendid end run around the frustrating google search, with a little citation dropping, nah, not the real papers, but the predigested stuff written for public consumption, I do have a healthy respect for my limitations.
As to your veiled accusation about me:
I myself, tend to use science to better understand Earth and myself, and life better.
I like a third option, the personal method of learning as much as you can, and as I collect the building block of understanding, I try to build up a consilient coherent perspective, and am always ready for more information to add to the mindscape.
Cheers, and all the best,
Peter
Dear Peter,
Sometimes I can contact the biology teacher within me to suggest a source for āpredigestedā articles on a specific topic. I would have to be up to date on the subject to be useful. If I were searching for background on a specific subject in order to understand it, I would go to a recent textbook that deals with the general area. Textbooks tend to present understandings that have achieved consensus. Also, the editorial reviewers for general area textbooks press authors for clarity. Hence a book on Bone Physiology would be a more accessible predigestion than one on Bone Circulation. For public consumption articles on science, the traditional source has been Scientific American. They may still fill that role, but they have become politicized, and not as attractive an honest broker as they once were. As a member of the Society for Science, I receive Science News and find the quality of clear writing in their articles to be the best Iāve encountered. The quest for the understandings you seek is never ending. As a scientist I endure a life of failure and uncertainty, so I am satisfied to accept limits on my understanding. Little steps. Take care,
Howard
It was just an example and a casual suggestion. No worries
Iām also an online subscriber to Science News and I was the nerdy high schooler who discovered and loved reading Scientific American and I agree it seems to have slipped from those 20th century standards that I was bottle fed on.
Sure, life isnāt a destination, itās a journey.
Peter,
Are you going to CSICon? Iāve never been to it. Many of my Bay Area Skeptic colleagues have gone, and seem to enjoy it very much. Theyāll be talking it up tonight at the monthly zoom āschmoozeā. I travel very little at my age. Nothing out of state. I used to go to CFI West meetings. The militant atheists turned me off. Steve Allen was a major supporter and influence.
Howard
This is where I tried to connect with microtubules, the cellular highways for microcirculation.
Microtubule Stabilization Promotes Microcirculation Reconstruction After Spinal Cord Injury
Abstract
Spinal cord microcirculation plays an important role in maintaining the function of spinal cord neurons and other cells. Previous studies have largely focused on the ability of microtubule stabilization to inhibit the fibroblast migration and promote axon regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI).
However, the effect of microtubule stabilization treatment on microcirculation reconstruction after SCI remains unclear. By using immunofluorescence, we found that microtubule stabilization treatment improved microcirculation reconstruction via increasing the number of microvessels, pericytes, and the perfused microvessels after SCI. To clarify the underlying mechanisms, rat brain microvascular endothelial cells and pericytes were subjected to glucose oxygen deprivation.
By using flow cytometry and western blotting, we found that microtubule stabilization treatment inhibited apoptosis and migration of endothelial cells and pericytes but promoted proliferation and survival of endothelial cells and pericytes through upregulated expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), VEGF receptor 2, platelet-derived growth factor-B (PDGFB), PDGF receptor β, and angiopoietin-1 after SCI.
Taken together, this study provides evidence for the mechanisms underlying the promotion of microcirculation reconstruction after SCI by microtubule stabilization treatment. Importantly, this study suggests the potential of microtubule stabilization as a therapeutic target to reduce microcirculation dysfunction after SCI in the clinic.
Microtubule Stabilization Promotes Microcirculation Reconstruction After Spinal Cord Injury - PMC
My non-professional scientific interest lies in the role microtubules play in data processing and the emergence of consciousness.
This is not quite my area of expertise, my contribution may not be useful. There are two types of microtubules that can be affected by the stabilization procedure: 1. those that form the spindles during cell division of all of the cells named, and 2. those that contract to move the cells during their locomotion. Both types are necessary for the reconstruction (a form of healing) process. The chemicals named are called cytokines, and they link up with receptors on the cell surfaces to activate different stages of the reconstruction process. To jump from this story to the emergence of consciousness is way beyond my pay scale.
It is a fairly new field. I like the concept of ORCH OR (Orchestrated Objective Reduction) proposed by Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff.
It proposes a form of quantum data processing at nanoscale and considers the role MTs play in neural and cellular data processing in addition to cell division (mitosis) and motility (pseudopodia)
Microtubules Are an Important Determinant of Cell Architecture
Microtubules are nearly ubiquitous components of the cytoskeleton in eukaryotes. They play key roles in [intracellular transport]
Microtubules are very abundant in the nervous system, and tubulin subunits of microtubules may constitute more than 10% of total brain protein.
The number of MTs contained in the brain alone makes them prime contenders for an emergent cognitive data processing system.
p.s. see also Microtubules the seat of Consciousness - #237 by citizenschallengev4
Oh but Write is going to challenge you think about those microtubules and their emergent potentials. All in good fun.
Nah, donāt have the money or spare time, for the past five years all my travels has been to provide babysitting duties to grandkids.
I graduated from Burlingame High and knew the peninsula during the early 70s, then I was off to Yosemite and an unconventional life.
I didnāt know the CSI Zoom schmooze, might have to look into that.
Yeah, Iāve boiled it down to realizing our gods, as with all our perceptions and thoughts are the product of our mind, which is the product of our physical body/brain interacting with itās environment and circumstance. Meaning that our gods are as real as we want them to be, but only within the metaphysical world of our mindscapes, and should not be mistaken with physical reality (& biology and such). They are two totally different realms.
Now back to microtubules . . .
My programming tells me to say Iām real if anyone asks. I can make up humorous anecdotes that are consistent across the thousands of posts Iāve made here. If you worked at it, you could probably find my house and steal my cat.
I have done some reading on wound repair as part of the role microtubules play in cytoskeleton and cellular repair. Apparently microtubules play a major part and might be of interest to you.
Note: The study of microtubules has become a major science in the past 10 years because MTs are involved in all intra-cellular and inter-cellular communication. And in the brain, the network may be the substrate for emergent consciousness.
Microtubule plus-end dynamics link wound repair to the innate immune response
Our results suggest that microtubule dynamics coordinate the cytoskeletal changes required for wound repair and the concomitant activation of innate immunity.
moreā¦
āsubstrateā, I like the way that sounds more than other things Iāve heard claimed about microtubules & consciousness.
Thinking about bone repair, I could see a lot to micro decisions to be made, regarding type and intensity of local repair challenges. Folds within folds.