Unlike the ancient Greek, Roman and German states, ancient Chinese states took a path of harmonious construction which did not involve abolition of the clan system. It was on the basis of the existing clan organizatio...Unlike the ancient Greek, Roman and German states, ancient Chinese states took a path of harmonious construction which did not involve abolition of the clan system. It was on the basis of the existing clan organization that the first shoots of the state sprouted, and the state and the clans underwent a long coexistence which allowed the early state to develop and be perfected. The unique social structure of ancient China-the long existence and development of the clan system--was the underlying social foundation for harmonious construction. The early Chinese states were much concerned with the feelings, opinions about right and wrong, advantages and calamities of the clans and tribes. This concern and social practice was the foundation stone for harmonious construction, as well as the benchmark for success for the leaders of the time. Traces of the idea of harmonious construction are apparent up to the full development of the early state in ancient China.展开更多
A decade ago mainstream molecular biologists regarded it impossible or biologically ill-motivated to understand the dynamics of complex biological phenomena, such as cancer genesis and progression, from a network pers...A decade ago mainstream molecular biologists regarded it impossible or biologically ill-motivated to understand the dynamics of complex biological phenomena, such as cancer genesis and progression, from a network perspective. Indeed, there are numerical difficulties even for those who were determined to explore along this direction. Undeterred, seven years ago a group of Chinese scientists started a program aiming to obtain quantitative connections between tumors and network dynamics. Many interesting results have been obtained. In this paper we wish to test such idea from a different angle: the connection between a normal biological process and the network dynamics. We have taken early myelopoiesis as our biological model. A standard roadmap for the cell-fate diversification during hematopoiesis has already been well established experimentally, yet little was known for its underpinning dynamical mechanisms. Compounding this difficulty there were additional experimental challenges, such as the seemingly conflicting hematopoietic roadmaps and the cell-fate inter-conversion events. With early myeloid cell-fate determination in mind, we constructed a core molecular endogenous network from well-documented gene regulation and signal transduction knowledge. Turning the network into a set of dynamical equations, we found computationally several structurally robust states. Those states nicely correspond to known cell phenotypes. We also found the states connecting those stable states.They reveal the developmental routes—how one stable state would most likely turn into another stable state. Such interconnected network among stable states enabled a natural organization of cell-fates into a multi-stable state landscape. Accordingly, both the myeloid cell phenotypes and the standard roadmap were explained mechanistically in a straightforward manner. Furthermore,recent challenging observations were also explained naturally. Moreover, the landscape visually enables a prediction of a pool of additional cell states and developmental routes, including the non-sequential and cross-branch transitions, which are testable by future experiments. In summary, the endogenous network dynamics provide an integrated quantitative framework to understand the heterogeneity and lineage commitment in myeloid progenitors.展开更多
The emergence of Chinese writing and the spread of literacy have remained intriguing,continuously debated topics in the study of early China,especially in the last two decades following the publication of a series of ...The emergence of Chinese writing and the spread of literacy have remained intriguing,continuously debated topics in the study of early China,especially in the last two decades following the publication of a series of intensively researched,well-crafted Ph.D.dissertations,monographs,and edited volumes in English centered around these subjects.展开更多
文摘Unlike the ancient Greek, Roman and German states, ancient Chinese states took a path of harmonious construction which did not involve abolition of the clan system. It was on the basis of the existing clan organization that the first shoots of the state sprouted, and the state and the clans underwent a long coexistence which allowed the early state to develop and be perfected. The unique social structure of ancient China-the long existence and development of the clan system--was the underlying social foundation for harmonious construction. The early Chinese states were much concerned with the feelings, opinions about right and wrong, advantages and calamities of the clans and tribes. This concern and social practice was the foundation stone for harmonious construction, as well as the benchmark for success for the leaders of the time. Traces of the idea of harmonious construction are apparent up to the full development of the early state in ancient China.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(2010CB529200)National Natural Science Foundation of China(91029738)
文摘A decade ago mainstream molecular biologists regarded it impossible or biologically ill-motivated to understand the dynamics of complex biological phenomena, such as cancer genesis and progression, from a network perspective. Indeed, there are numerical difficulties even for those who were determined to explore along this direction. Undeterred, seven years ago a group of Chinese scientists started a program aiming to obtain quantitative connections between tumors and network dynamics. Many interesting results have been obtained. In this paper we wish to test such idea from a different angle: the connection between a normal biological process and the network dynamics. We have taken early myelopoiesis as our biological model. A standard roadmap for the cell-fate diversification during hematopoiesis has already been well established experimentally, yet little was known for its underpinning dynamical mechanisms. Compounding this difficulty there were additional experimental challenges, such as the seemingly conflicting hematopoietic roadmaps and the cell-fate inter-conversion events. With early myeloid cell-fate determination in mind, we constructed a core molecular endogenous network from well-documented gene regulation and signal transduction knowledge. Turning the network into a set of dynamical equations, we found computationally several structurally robust states. Those states nicely correspond to known cell phenotypes. We also found the states connecting those stable states.They reveal the developmental routes—how one stable state would most likely turn into another stable state. Such interconnected network among stable states enabled a natural organization of cell-fates into a multi-stable state landscape. Accordingly, both the myeloid cell phenotypes and the standard roadmap were explained mechanistically in a straightforward manner. Furthermore,recent challenging observations were also explained naturally. Moreover, the landscape visually enables a prediction of a pool of additional cell states and developmental routes, including the non-sequential and cross-branch transitions, which are testable by future experiments. In summary, the endogenous network dynamics provide an integrated quantitative framework to understand the heterogeneity and lineage commitment in myeloid progenitors.
文摘The emergence of Chinese writing and the spread of literacy have remained intriguing,continuously debated topics in the study of early China,especially in the last two decades following the publication of a series of intensively researched,well-crafted Ph.D.dissertations,monographs,and edited volumes in English centered around these subjects.
