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MECHANISM OF THE BIOLOGICAL EFFECT OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL FACTORS IN ULTRALOW DOSES.
The problem of the biological effect of physicochemical factors in ultralow doses (ULD) has attracted the attention of investigators in the last decade. This interest is primarily associated with the fact that an action, small in magnitude, can result in biological effects, comparable or even more significant than effects, observed upon the action of significantly higher doses. Attempts were undertaken to explain the ULD phenomenon [1,2]. However, a single mechanism was not proposed for the biological effect of physical and chemical factors in ULD. In addition, the proposed mechanisms of the action of biologically active materials in ULD are based on the assumption of passive diffusion, a result of which is the interaction of single ligand molecules and cell receptors [3-5]. In our opinion, such an assumption is incorrect. First, according to modern concepts, the intercellular space is a complexly organized gel [6], including biopolymers in a high concentration and water molecules; passive diffusion of molecules through such a gel is naturally difficult and is a process of low probability. Second, the character of biological effects, produced by physicochemical factors in ULD, indicates that the basis of this phenomenon is a change in processes, responsible for the transmission of the regulator signal in biological systems.
The stated considerations lead to the thought that all living organisms possess a uniformly constructed system, the function of which consists of the intake, reading, propagation, and obliteration of information, constantly entering from without. The biological effect, produced by physicochemical factors in ULD, is due to the fact that at its basis lie mechanisms, analogous to mechanisms, according to which homeostatic processes constantly occur in biological systems. In our opinion, such an information-transfer system should be universal for all biological objects and should function with a high degree of reliability. A system of supramolecular structures of the cell microenvironment satisfies these requirements.
This paper is not a review; therefore, the examination of characteristics of the supramolecular structure of the cellular microenvironment will be carried out from the point of view of our proposed conception of this system as a system of transfer of information in biological systems.
Cellular microenvironment: organization, function, role in transmission of the regulator signal
By the microenvironment of a cell is understood to be the great number of molecules, achieving cooperation of cells, their local value in tissues, and morphogenesis. The basis for these morphogenetic processes is cellular adhesion, in essence, the interaction of the cell surface either with the surface of another contacting cell or interaction with a natural substrate, e.g., the extracellular matrix (ECM) [7,8]. The cytoarchitectonics of tissue of any organ is determined to a significant degree by the presence of specialized ultrastructures of intercellular contacts or specialized contact zones.
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