Counting what counts: the importance of quantitative approaches to studying plant cell biology
Counting what counts: the importance of quantitative approaches to studying plant cell biology
复制标题
计算重要的东西：定量方法研究植物细胞生物学的重要性
DOI：
10.1016/j.pbi.2018.10.003
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发表时间：
2018
影响因子：
9.5
通讯作者：
Dixit, Ram
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Haswell, Elizabeth S;Dixit, Ram
当被要求编辑2018年《植物生物学当前观点》的细胞生物学问题时，我们很快同意将其集中在“定量细胞生物学”的主题上。植物细胞生物学领域越来越关注定量分析，作为剖析基本细胞活动的分子机制的一部分。在某种意义上，这种运动是一个成熟场的自然进程。虽然传统的遗传学、生物化学和细胞生物学的三重组合已经揭示了植物细胞的关键分子组成，但新的定量方法使我们能够确定这些组成部分在时间和空间上的相互作用如何塑造细胞的形式和功能。如果说“见”就是“信”，那么“量”就是“知”。测量使我们能够超越简单的“什么”、“在哪里”和“何时”的问题，以何种顺序、何种程度来解决这些问题。定量方法也有利于再现性，对于许多由随机事件驱动的细胞过程特别重要。有人可能会说，从这些方法得出的结论比从定性观察得出的结论更统一和普遍。最后，参数的测量为计算和数学模型奠定了基础，这些模型正迅速成为复杂细胞生物过程的机制研究不可或缺的工具。
When asked to edit the 2018 Cell Biology issue of Current Opinion in Plant Biology, we quickly agreed to focus it on the topic of ‘quantitative cell biology’. The plant cell biology field has grown increasingly focused on quantitative analyses as part of the push to dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying basic cellular activities. In a sense, this movement is the natural progression of a maturing field. While the traditional trifecta of genetics, biochemistry and cell biology have revealed the key molecular components of the plant cell, new quantitative approaches are allowing us to determine how interactions between these components in time and space shape the form and function of cells.We wished to highlight this trend for a number of other reasons. Simply put: if seeing is believing, then measuring is knowing. Measurements enable us to go beyond the simple what, where and when questions to address how often, in what order, and to what degree. Quantitative approaches also facilitate reproducibility and are particularly important for the many cellular processes that are driven by stochastic events. One could argue that conclusions drawn from these approaches are more uniform and universal than from qualitative observations. Finally, measurements of parameters lay the groundwork for computational and mathematical models, which are fast becoming indispensable tools for mechanistic studies of complex cell biological processes.