Cancer Niches and Their Kikuchi Free Energy
Biological forms depend on a progressive specialization of pluripotent stem cells. The differentiation of these cells in their spatial and functional environment defines the organism itself; however, cellular mutations may disrupt the mutual balance between a cell and its niche, where cell prolifera...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Entropy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/23/5/609 |
| _version_ | 1797534133908406272 |
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| author | Noor Sajid Laura Convertino Karl Friston |
| author_facet | Noor Sajid Laura Convertino Karl Friston |
| author_sort | Noor Sajid |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Biological forms depend on a progressive specialization of pluripotent stem cells. The differentiation of these cells in their spatial and functional environment defines the organism itself; however, cellular mutations may disrupt the mutual balance between a cell and its niche, where cell proliferation and specialization are released from their autopoietic homeostasis. This induces the construction of cancer niches and maintains their survival. In this paper, we characterise cancer niche construction as a direct consequence of interactions between clusters of cancer and healthy cells. Explicitly, we evaluate these higher-order interactions between niches of cancer and healthy cells using Kikuchi approximations to the free energy. Kikuchi’s free energy is measured in terms of changes to the sum of energies of baseline clusters of cells (or nodes) minus the energies of overcounted cluster intersections (and interactions of interactions, etc.). We posit that these changes in energy node clusters correspond to a long-term reduction in the complexity of the system conducive to cancer niche survival. We validate this formulation through numerical simulations of apoptosis, local cancer growth, and metastasis, and highlight its implications for a computational understanding of the etiopathology of cancer. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:25:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eb7e2243032e45ce8f31fd69b8f8674f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1099-4300 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:25:20Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Entropy |
| spelling | doaj.art-eb7e2243032e45ce8f31fd69b8f8674f2023-11-21T19:46:12ZengMDPI AGEntropy1099-43002021-05-0123560910.3390/e23050609Cancer Niches and Their Kikuchi Free EnergyNoor Sajid0Laura Convertino1Karl Friston2Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UKWellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UKWellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UKBiological forms depend on a progressive specialization of pluripotent stem cells. The differentiation of these cells in their spatial and functional environment defines the organism itself; however, cellular mutations may disrupt the mutual balance between a cell and its niche, where cell proliferation and specialization are released from their autopoietic homeostasis. This induces the construction of cancer niches and maintains their survival. In this paper, we characterise cancer niche construction as a direct consequence of interactions between clusters of cancer and healthy cells. Explicitly, we evaluate these higher-order interactions between niches of cancer and healthy cells using Kikuchi approximations to the free energy. Kikuchi’s free energy is measured in terms of changes to the sum of energies of baseline clusters of cells (or nodes) minus the energies of overcounted cluster intersections (and interactions of interactions, etc.). We posit that these changes in energy node clusters correspond to a long-term reduction in the complexity of the system conducive to cancer niche survival. We validate this formulation through numerical simulations of apoptosis, local cancer growth, and metastasis, and highlight its implications for a computational understanding of the etiopathology of cancer.https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/23/5/609cancer nichesfree energyKikuchi approximationsapoptosismetastasiscluster variation method |
| spellingShingle | Noor Sajid Laura Convertino Karl Friston Cancer Niches and Their Kikuchi Free Energy Entropy cancer niches free energy Kikuchi approximations apoptosis metastasis cluster variation method |
| title | Cancer Niches and Their Kikuchi Free Energy |
| title_full | Cancer Niches and Their Kikuchi Free Energy |
| title_fullStr | Cancer Niches and Their Kikuchi Free Energy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cancer Niches and Their Kikuchi Free Energy |
| title_short | Cancer Niches and Their Kikuchi Free Energy |
| title_sort | cancer niches and their kikuchi free energy |
| topic | cancer niches free energy Kikuchi approximations apoptosis metastasis cluster variation method |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/23/5/609 |
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