Critical Points in Tumorigenesis: A Carcinogen-Initiated Phase Transition Analyzed via Single-Cell Proteomics.

in Small (2016), 12(11), 1425-31

A kinetic, single-cell proteomic study of chemically induced carcinogenesis is interpreted by treating the single-cell data as fluctuations of an open system transitioning between different steady states ... [more ▼]

A kinetic, single-cell proteomic study of chemically induced carcinogenesis is interpreted by treating the single-cell data as fluctuations of an open system transitioning between different steady states. In analogy to a first-order transition, phase coexistence and the loss of degrees of freedom are observed. The transition is detected well before the appearance of the traditional biomarker of the carcinogenic transformation. [less ▲]