3 ms·

Is reproduction rate of regular cells changed from using stimulant drugs?

derefr 3y ago
Presuming by "regular cells", you mean non-gamete diploid cells in a multicellular organism, I don't think so. Outside of the CNS (which does its own special things with dopamine), dopaminergic compounds generally just increase cellular metabolic rate — which basically translates to any given cell (that has a dopamine receptor) doing "its job" faster: consuming resources and producing waste faster, and thereby doing more of whatever chemistry those resources are consumed to drive. (If you think of a cell as a control system seeking equilibrium, dopaminergic-receptor activation forces the cell to take in, through endocytosis, more input chemicals to some of its key internal reactions than it's "ready" for, throwing it out of equilibrium — so it then tries to quickly react those chemicals away to get back to equilibrium.) IIRC, independent of CNS signalling, liver cells exposed to dopaminergic compounds produce more bile per second; muscle cells gain more contractile tone (which is why digestive peristalsis speeds up, and also why you might start stressing your jaw muscles); and a number of other things. Replication (i.e. cellular division) isn't the inherent "job" of any single cell within a multicellular organism. Cells do divide, but they don't inherently divide — they do it in response to specific chemical messengers from the greater organism letting them know that it is in need of more of that kind of cell within the tissue that cell is located in. (Cells not waiting for these signals to divide, is in part what cancer is!) So I wouldn't think that there's any (diploid) cell in a multicellular organism that reproduces more when prodded with stimulants. Haploid cells (gametes), maybe — but even those only divide on command, IIRC. Bacteria, on the other hand, aren't just cells, they're single-celled organisms — where they use their metabolism not to passively obey orders "from on high", but to actively attempt to grow and distribute their genetic material. So it would be intuitive to me if making them metabolize faster, made them do organism-level things like reproduction faster. But I don't know for sure. I do know, though, that most parasites, e.g. tapeworms, are complex enough that they respond to dopamine pretty much exactly the same way humans do: dopamine triggers CNS signalling within them, which increases their level of behavioral arousal, which in turn motivates them to use more of their organism-level resource stores over the short term in seeking to eat, seeking to reproduce, and in doing anything else they care about doing.
- mjan22640 3y ago
  Cancer is when a cell disconnects from the body and starts behaving like an independent organism https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K5VI0u5_12k&pp=ygUUbWljaGFlbCBsZXZpbiBjYW5jZXI%3D https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K5VI0u5_12k&pp=ygUUbWljaGFlbCB...

Presuming by "regular cells", you mean non-gamete diploid cells in a multicellular organism, I don't think so. Outside of the CNS (which does its own special things with dopamine), dopaminergic compounds generally just increase cellular metabolic rate — which basically translates to any given cell (that has a dopamine receptor) doing "its job" faster: consuming resources and producing waste faster, and thereby doing more of whatever chemistry those resources are consumed to drive. (If you think of a cell as a control system seeking equilibrium, dopaminergic-receptor activation forces the cell to take in, through endocytosis, more input chemicals to some of its key internal reactions than it's "ready" for, throwing it out of equilibrium — so it then tries to quickly react those chemicals away to get back to equilibrium.) IIRC, independent of CNS signalling, liver cells exposed to dopaminergic compounds produce more bile per second; muscle cells gain more contractile tone (which is why digestive peristalsis speeds up, and also why you might start stressing your jaw muscles); and a number of other things. Replication (i.e. cellular division) isn't the inherent "job" of any single cell within a multicellular organism. Cells do divide, but they don't inherently divide — they do it in response to specific chemical messengers from the greater organism letting them know that it is in need of more of that kind of cell within the tissue that cell is located in. (Cells not waiting for these signals to divide, is in part what cancer is!) So I wouldn't think that there's any (diploid) cell in a multicellular organism that reproduces more when prodded with stimulants. Haploid cells (gametes), maybe — but even those only divide on command, IIRC. Bacteria, on the other hand, aren't just cells, they're single-celled organisms — where they use their metabolism not to passively obey orders "from on high", but to actively attempt to grow and distribute their genetic material. So it would be intuitive to me if making them metabolize faster, made them do organism-level things like reproduction faster. But I don't know for sure. I do know, though, that most parasites, e.g. tapeworms, are complex enough that they respond to dopamine pretty much exactly the same way humans do: dopamine triggers CNS signalling within them, which increases their level of behavioral arousal, which in turn motivates them to use more of their organism-level resource stores over the short term in seeking to eat, seeking to reproduce, and in doing anything else they care about doing.

mjan22640 3y ago
Cancer is when a cell disconnects from the body and starts behaving like an independent organism https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K5VI0u5_12k&pp=ygUUbWljaGFlbCBsZXZpbiBjYW5jZXI%3D https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K5VI0u5_12k&pp=ygUUbWljaGFlbCB...