title: Gene expression waves. Cell cycle independent collective dynamics in cultured cells.
abstract: The ergodic hypothesis, which assumes the independence of each cell of the ensemble from all the others, is a necessary prerequisite to attach single cell based explanations to the grand averages taken from population data. This was the prevailing view about the interpretation of cellular biology experiments that typically are performed on colonies of billions of cells. By analysing gene expression data of different cells going from yeast to mammalian cell cultures, we demonstrate that cell cultures display a sort of "ecology-in-a-plate" giving rise to a rich dynamics of gene expression that are independent from reproductive cycles, hence contradicting simple ergodic assumptions The aspecific character of the observed coordinated gene expression activity inhibits any simple mechanistic hypothesis and highlights the need to consider population effects in the interpretation of data coming from cell cultures.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Yamagata, Japan.
authors.forename: Masa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsuchiya
authors.forename: Masa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsuchyia
authors.forename: Sum T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Zhen X
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colosimo
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Palumbo
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crescenzi
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazzola
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Negri
authors.forename: Michele M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Kumar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Selvarajoo
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giuliani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured / Q000166:cytology*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D015003:Yeasts / Q000378:metabolism