The mobius strip, the cell, and soft logic mathematics.

The cell-cell signaling mechanisms that are the basis for all of physiology have been used to trace evolution back to the unicellular state, and beyond, to the "First Principles of Physiology". And since our physiology derives from the Cosmos based on Symbiogenesis, it has been hypothesized that the cell behaves like a functional Mobius Strip, having no 'inside or outside' cell membrane surface - it is continuous with the Cosmos, its history being codified from Quantum Entanglement to Newtonian Mechanics, affording the cell consciousness and unconsciousness/subconsciousness as a continuum for the first time. Similarly, Klein and Maimon have concluded that their 'Soft Logic' mathematics also constitutes a Mobius Strip, using both a real number axis, combined with a zero axis, numerically representing cognition. This is congruent with the cell as 'two-tiered' consciousness, the first tier being the real-time interface between the cell membrane and its environment; the second tier constituting integrated physiology, referencing the consciousness of the Cosmos. Thus, there is coherence between physiology, consciousness and mathematics for the first time.

Trapping of ivermectin by a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel upon open-to-closed isomerization.

Ivermectin (IVM) is a broad-spectrum anthelmintic drug used to treat human parasitic diseases like river blindness and lymphatic filariasis. By activating invertebrate pentameric glutamate-gated chloride channels (GluCl receptors; GluClRs), IVM induces sustained chloride influx and long-lasting membrane hyperpolarization that inhibit neural excitation in nematodes. Although IVM activates the C. elegans heteromeric GluClα/ß receptor, it cannot activate a homomeric receptor composed of the C. elegans GluClß subunits. To understand this incapability, we generated a homopentameric α7-GluClß chimeric receptor that consists of an extracellular ligand-binding domain of an α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor known to be potentiated by IVM, and a chloride-selective channel domain assembled from GluClß subunits. Application of IVM prior to acetylcholine inhibited the responses of the chimeric α7-GluClßR. Adding IVM to activated α7-GluClßRs, considerably accelerated the decline of ACh-elicited currents and stabilized the receptors in a non-conducting state. Determination of IVM association and dissociation rate constants and recovery experiments suggest that, following initial IVM binding to open α7-GluClßRs, the drug induces a conformational change and locks the ion channel in a closed state for a long duration. We further found that IVM also inhibits the activation by glutamate of a homomeric receptor assembled from the C. elegans full-length GluClß subunits.