Abstract
The biological application of stoichiometric network analysis (SNA) permits an understanding of tumour induction, carcinogenesis, and chemotherapy. Starting from the Biological System of the Elements, which provides a comprehensive treatment of the functions and distributions of chemical (trace) elements in biology, an attempt is made to interrelate the essential feature of biology and — regrettably — of tumour genesis by superimposing SNA reasoning on common features of all crucial biological processes. For this purpose, aspects, effects and drawbacks of autocatalysis (identical reproduction which can occur either under control or without control [in tumours]) are linked with the known facts about element distributions in living beings and about interference of metals with tumours (in terms of both chemotherapy and carcinogenesis). The essential role of autocatalysis in biology and the drawbacks of either controlled or spontaneous cell division can be used to understand crucial aspects of carcinogenesis and chemotherapy because SNA describes and predicts effects of autocatalysis, including phase effects that may be due to some kind of intervention. The SNA-based classifications of autocatalytic networks in cell biology are outlined here to identify new approaches to chemotherapy.
Highlights
This study is concerned solely with chemically induced carcinogenesis and with chemotherapy, in particular with processes in which metal ions attack nucleic acids directly
Stoichiometric network analysis permits for an understanding of interactions of metal chemotherapeutics with metalloproteins that inhibit enzyme activities rather than directly attack nucleic acids, because the latter enzyme processes are in a certain sense autocatalytic2 within the larger framework of a cell3
This was first demonstrated for the inhibition of metalloenzyme activities by gallium salts; it has since been possible to extend the method of description to the nucleic acid replication cycle
Summary
Starting from the Biological System of the Elements, which provides a comprehensive treatment of the functions and distributions of chemical (trace) elements in biology, an attempt is made to interrelate the essential feature of biology and — regrettably — of tumour genesis by superimposing SNA reasoning on common features of all crucial biological processes. For this purpose, aspects, effects, and drawbacks of autocatalysis (identical reproduction which can occur either under control or without control [in tumours]) are linked with the known facts about element distributions in living beings and about interference of metals with tumours (in terms of both chemotherapy and carcinogenesis).
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