Quantitative cell biology: transforming the conceptual, theoretical, instrumental, and methodological approaches to cell biology.

Abstract

Molecular Biology of the CellVol. 25, No. 22 EditorialFree AccessQuantitative cell biology: transforming the conceptual, theoretical, instrumental, and methodological approaches to cell biologyJennifer Lippincott-SchwartzJennifer Lippincott-SchwartzSearch for more papers by this authorJennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, Guest EditorPublished Online:13 Oct 2017https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e14-08-1297AboutSectionsView PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail New technological innovations in multiscale microscopy, image analysis, cell-focused physics, bioinformatics, and computational modeling are enabling fundamental principles of cell activity to be studied in ways previously deemed impossible. These innovations make it now possible to distinguish individual molecules as they diffuse across membranes; count subunits comprising receptor or structural scaffolds; measure cellular forces; and model complex cell behaviors. The remarkable information so obtained is profoundly transforming the world within which cell biology is conceived and done, drawing in physicists, chemists, theoreticians, and engineers and causing the convergence cell biology with traditional disciplines of physics, mathematical modeling, and bioinformatics.This special issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell recognizes this transformation in cell biology's methodologies and conceptual foundations and signals a broadening of the scope of MBoC to include papers that employ quantitative approaches to address cell biology problems. The issue includes a broad collection of research articles and Perspectives that all apply or discuss physical and quantitative approaches to cell biology problems. The articles range from those focused on new quantitative imaging approaches to ones devoted to computational modeling of complex physical processes. The Perspectives focus on how to bridge the wide gulf between collection of quantitative data and the use of physics, mathematics, and computers in providing causal relationships in cell biology. This is important, because intuition about how objects behave generally fails at the scale of cells and molecules. Computational approaches and mathematical modeling can help overcome this by excluding alternative explanations, putting competing hypotheses into a rigorous framework, explaining paradoxical data, and constraining possible outcomes.J. Lippincott-SchwartzTogether the reviews and studies demonstrate how the combination of mathematical modeling with quantitative experimental studies can be a powerful and compelling approach to understanding cell biology. We expect that more and more researchers will adopt this approach for addressing their specific cell biological problems in innovative ways, making quantitative and computational approaches part of the standard tool kit of cell biologists. Recognizing this, we have expanded MBoC's ability to handle quantitative biology manuscripts by adding seven editors with expertise in diverse quantitative approaches: Patricia Bassereau, Margaret Gardel, Diane Lidke, Wallace Marshall, Samara Reck-Peterson, Thomas Surrey, and Valerie Weaver.FOOTNOTESDOI:10.1091/mbc.E14-08-1297Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz is Guest Editor of this special issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byKinetics of antigen cross-presentation assessed experimentally and by a model of the complete endomembrane systemCellular Immunology, Vol. 382Quantitative mapping of keratin networks in 3D18 February 2022 | eLife, Vol. 11Undergraduate Quantitative Biology Impact on Biology Preservice Teachers19 May 2020 | Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, Vol. 82, No. 6Agents and networks to model the dynamic interactions of intracellular transport29 November 2017 | Cellular Logistics, Vol. 7, No. 4Characterizing an Ionic Liquid as a Biological Fixative in Fluorescence Microscopy4 August 2017 | Microscopy and Microanalysis, Vol. 23, No. S1Chemical Engineering Principles in the Field of Cell Mechanics8 June 2015 | Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 54, No. 23 Vol. 25, No. 22 November 05, 20143437-3716 Metrics Downloads & Citations Downloads: 123Citations: 6 History Information© 2014 Lippincott-Schwartz. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).PDF download