Biological Barriers: Consciousness and Mental Illness
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2026 | Viewed by 515
Special Issue Editor
2. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Riverside 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
3. School of Behavioral Health, Loma Linda University, 11139 Anderson St., Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA
Interests: neurocognitive disorders; schizophrenia; molecular biology; neurolipidomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Biological barriers, comprising epithelial or endothelial cells, maintain tissue homeostasis, enabling selective transport and signaling between body compartments. Substances in systemic circulation can cross biological barriers by two routes: transcellular and paracellular. The former depends on the integrity of cell membranes, while the latter is governed by tight junctions, which primarily serve as a barrier in paracellular passage, containing intermittent channels for small cations, anions, or water. The adhesive properties of epithelial and endothelial cells are more closely associated with adherent junctions than with tight junctions.
Biological barriers, such as the intestinal and blood–brain barriers, maintain strict molecular organization within plasma and mitochondrial membranes. Any deviation from this organization can lead to pathologies, including severe mental illnesses. Plasma and organelle membranes separate cellular compartments from each other and the environment, facilitating survival by ensuring the selective passage of nutrients and minerals.
Rooted in the amphiphilic (hydrophilic and hydrophobic) properties of phospholipids, membrane self-assembly represents the foundation of biological existence. Membrane self-assembly and repair seem to counteract local entropy and may increase disorder, demonstrating that the second law of thermodynamics applies to biological systems. However, it can also be viewed as a deterrent to universal disorder.
Damaged cell membranes increase the permeability of the intestinal and blood–brain barriers, allowing bacteria to migrate from the gastrointestinal tract into systemic circulation, including the central nervous system. Recent studies have shown that the insular cortex—the brain region responsible for interoception and the foundation of self-awareness—retains a record of intestinal inflammation. Linking consciousness with gastrointestinal pathology represents a rediscovery of Hippocrates’ observation that “all disease begins in the gut.”
A focus on cell membranes and tight junction molecules as being essential to life can pave the way for the development of innovative therapeutic approaches, including barrier repair through membrane lipid replacement, the enhancement of tight junctions, mitochondrial transport or transplantation, gamma wave entrainment, and the reversal of cellular senescence.
Dr. Adonis Sfera
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- cell membranes
- transport protein regulation
- blood–brain barrier
- epithelial barriers
- gut barrier
- respiratory barriers
- blood–saliva barrier
- biological barriers and pathological changes
- protection of biological barriers in diseases
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