User:J.vanloon

Physicomics

The last decade has seen a very fruitful contribution by physicists and engineers towards biological questions such as in mechano-biology. In line with the terminology for DNA, RNA or protein research, genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics, respectively, we might use the term mechanomics to describe all the mechanical phenomena involved in cell physiology. This term was introduced in literature by. in 2001 in relation to protein-ligant complexes (see below). They used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technologies that characterize protein–ligand interactions combined with bioinformatics strategies across large families of proteins. The term “enzyme mechanomics” describes this newly enabled gene family wide characterization of structure–function correlations, but the term may be applied more widely. The term mechanomics was used again by van Loon during the Gravitational Space Biology meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology (ASGSB) www.asgsb.org during their annual meeting in Arlington (VA) USA in 2006. The term 'mechanone' [] was used some months earlier by Prof. Roger Kamm, at the 5th World Congress of Biomechanics Munich also in 2006, includes understanding of the state of stress existing from tissues to cells to molecules. Mechanomics could include all mechanical interactions on the level of the cell, tissue and whole organism. On a cellular level, cytoskeleton elements are likely candidates for force generation and transduction processes. More intricate and possibly localized processes include the mechanical properties between the main cytoskeletal components and connections between the cytoskeleton and the cell membrane or cell wall. Mechanomics would also include molecular motors that use cytoskeletal structures such as myosins, dyneins, prestins or kinesins to facilitate intracellular transport and contractions. Processes like particle invagination, cell division, motility, cytoplasmatic streaming or particular ion channels are largely depending on mechanical but also on other physical processes. Therefore we should expand the term ‘mechanomics’ to include other physical parameters such as temperature, light, electro-magnetic fields etc. and use a more comprehensive term of ‘physicomics’, which covers all physical properties involved in cell, tissue or body physiology. Characteristics and interactions of physical properties within a cell should be published similarly as in proteomics studies on signaling networks and the cytoskeleton.

Sem, D.S., Yu, L., Coutts, S.M., and Jack, R. 2001. Object-oriented approach to drug design enabled by NMR SOLVE: First real-time structural tool for characterizing protein-ligand interaction. J Cell Biochem Suppl 37, 99-105. [ ]

Van Loon J.J.W.A. Microgravity and mechanomics. Gravitational and Space Biology 20(2), pp. 3-18, June 2007.

van Loon J.J.W.A. Mechanomics and Physicomics in Gravisensing. Microgravity Sci. Technol (2009) 21:159–167. DOI 10.1007/s12217-008-9065-9.