{"doi":"10.1063/5.0080845","title":"Varied solutions to multicellularity: The biophysical and evolutionary consequences of diverse intercellular bonds","abstract":"<jats:p>The diversity of multicellular organisms is, in large part, due to the fact that multicellularity has independently evolved many times. Nonetheless, multicellular organisms all share a universal biophysical trait: cells are attached to each other. All mechanisms of cellular attachment belong to one of two broad classes; intercellular bonds are either reformable or they are not. Both classes of multicellular assembly are common in nature, having independently evolved dozens of times. In this review, we detail these varied mechanisms as they exist in multicellular organisms. We also discuss the evolutionary implications of different intercellular attachment mechanisms on nascent multicellular organisms. The type of intercellular bond present during early steps in the transition to multicellularity constrains future evolutionary and biophysical dynamics for the lineage, affecting the origin of multicellular life cycles, cell–cell communication, cellular differentiation, and multicellular morphogenesis. The types of intercellular bonds used by multicellular organisms may thus result in some of the most impactful historical constraints on the evolution of multicellularity.</jats:p>","journal":"Biophysics Reviews","year":2022,"id":590381,"datarank":0.8001961126529837,"base_score":3.332204510175204,"endowment":3.332204510175204,"self_citation_contribution":0.49983067652628066,"citation_network_contribution":0.3003654361267031,"self_endowment_contribution":0.49983067652628066,"citer_contribution":0.3003654361267031,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":27,"citer_count":25,"citers_with_citation_signal":14,"citers_with_endowment":14,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":345628,"name":"Pedro Márquez-Zacarías","orcid":"0000-0002-7656-5687","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":996425,"name":"Pablo Bravo","orcid":"0000-0002-4784-4900","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1233770,"name":"Aawaz R. Pokhrel","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":996427,"name":"Kathryn A. MacGillivray","orcid":"0000-0002-9752-389X","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":345629,"name":"William C. Ratcliff","orcid":"0000-0002-6837-8355","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":345630,"name":"Peter J. Yunker","orcid":"0000-0001-8471-4171","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":806782,"name":"Thomas C. Day","orcid":"0000-0003-4681-9348","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Varied solutions to multicellularity: The biophysical and evolutionary consequences of diverse intercellular bonds","abstract":"<jats:p>The diversity of multicellular organisms is, in large part, due to the fact that multicellularity has independently evolved many times. Nonetheless, multicellular organisms all share a universal biophysical trait: cells are attached to each other. All mechanisms of cellular attachment belong to one of two broad classes; intercellular bonds are either reformable or they are not. Both classes of multicellular assembly are common in nature, having independently evolved dozens of times. In this review, we detail these varied mechanisms as they exist in multicellular organisms. We also discuss the evolutionary implications of different intercellular attachment mechanisms on nascent multicellular organisms. The type of intercellular bond present during early steps in the transition to multicellularity constrains future evolutionary and biophysical dynamics for the lineage, affecting the origin of multicellular life cycles, cell–cell communication, cellular differentiation, and multicellular morphogenesis. The types of intercellular bonds used by multicellular organisms may thus result in some of the most impactful historical constraints on the evolution of multicellularity.</jats:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":3.332204510175204,"endowment":3.332204510175204,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"35673523","pmcid":"PMC9164275","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W4281994149","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","grant_id":"R35-GM138354-02","title":null},{"funder_name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","grant_id":"R35-GM138030-01","title":null},{"funder_name":"National Science Foundation","grant_id":"BMAT-2003721","title":null},{"funder_name":"National Science Foundation","grant_id":"DEB-1845363","title":null},{"funder_name":"NIGMS NIH HHS","grant_id":"R35 GM138354","title":null},{"funder_name":"NIGMS NIH HHS","grant_id":"R35 GM138030","title":null},{"funder_name":"National Science Foundation","grant_id":"1845363","title":"CAREER:  Examining the Role of Nascent Multicellular Life Cycles on the Evolution of Organismal Complexity"},{"funder_name":"National Science Foundation","grant_id":"2003721","title":"Material Consequences of Distinct Interbacterial Modes of Aggression in Bacterial Biofilms"},{"funder_name":"National Institutes of Health","grant_id":"1R35GM138354-01","title":"Development of a Rapid Antibiotic Susceptibility Test Capable of Detecting Heteroresistance"},{"funder_name":"National Institutes of Health","grant_id":"2R35GM138030-06","title":"Using directed evolution to study the origins of multicellular development"}],"total_grants":10,"fwci":1.8803,"citation_percentile":0.86249994,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2022,"count":1},{"year":2023,"count":7},{"year":2024,"count":9},{"year":2025,"count":7},{"year":2026,"count":3}],"oa_status":"hybrid","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://aip.scitation.org/doi/pdf/10.1063/5.0080845","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://aip.scitation.org/doi/pdf/10.1063/5.0080845","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://pubs.aip.org/aip/bpr/article-pdf/doi/10.1063/5.0080845/19804650/021305_1_online.pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0080845","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35673523","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/9164275","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC9164275","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC9164275?pdf=render","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0080845","host_type":""}],"fields_of_study":["Protist diversity and phylogeny","Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology","Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology","0301 basic medicine","0303 health sciences","03 medical and health sciences"],"mesh_terms":[],"keywords":["Multicellular organism","Biology","Evolutionary biology","Intracellular","Lineage (genetic)","Morphogenesis","Cell","Cell biology","Genetics","Gene","Reviews"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Responsible consumption and production"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-24T19:19:25.668122Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}