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Modeling large-scale dynamic processes in the cell: polarization, waves, and division

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 August 2014

David Sept  and
Anders E. Carlsson
David Sept*
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Anders E. Carlsson*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
*
*Authors for Correspondence: David Sept, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Tel.: 734-615-9587; Fax: 734-647-4834; Email: dsept@umich.edu; Anders E. Carlsson, Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. Email: aec@wustl.edu
*Authors for Correspondence: David Sept, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Tel.: 734-615-9587; Fax: 734-647-4834; Email: dsept@umich.edu; Anders E. Carlsson, Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. Email: aec@wustl.edu
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Abstract

The past decade has witnessed significant developments in molecular biology techniques, fluorescent labeling, and super-resolution microscopy, and together these advances have vastly increased our quantitative understanding of the cell. This detailed knowledge has concomitantly opened the door for biophysical modeling on a cellular scale. There have been comprehensive models produced describing many processes such as motility, transport, gene regulation, and chemotaxis. However, in this review we focus on a specific set of phenomena, namely cell polarization, F-actin waves, and cytokinesis. In each case, we compare and contrast various published models, highlight the relevant aspects of the biology, and provide a sense of the direction in which the field is moving.

Type
Review Article
Information
Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , August 2014 , pp. 221 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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