Challenges and dreams: physics of weak interactions essential to life.
Challenges and dreams: physics of weak interactions essential to life.
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DOI：
10.1091/mbc.e14-06-1035
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发表时间：
2014-11-05
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Gierasch LM
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Chien P;Gierasch LM
生物系统显示出惊人的自组织能力。此外，它们的亚细胞结构是动态的，并对不断变化的需求和条件做出反应。这些性质的关键是多种弱的“五元”相互作用，这些相互作用已经进化成特定的大分子空间网络。分子的这些特殊排列使信号能够在远大于分子尺寸的距离内传播，产生定义细胞内功能区的相分离，并放大细胞对环境变化的反应。一个主要的挑战是开发生化工具和物理模型来描述细胞中运行的所有弱相互作用。我们还需要更好的方法来测量细胞大分子空间分布中的偏差，这些偏差是多个弱相互作用综合作用的结果。部署这些方法需要细胞生物学家、生物化学家和物理学家之间的合作。这些方法将帮助我们实现在分子和细胞水平上理解维持生命的生物“胶水”的梦想。
Biological systems display stunning capacities to self-organize. Moreover, their subcellular architectures are dynamic and responsive to changing needs and conditions. Key to these properties are manifold weak “quinary” interactions that have evolved to create specific spatial networks of macromolecules. These specific arrangements of molecules enable signals to be propagated over distances much greater than molecular dimensions, create phase separations that define functional regions in cells, and amplify cellular responses to changes in their environments. A major challenge is to develop biochemical tools and physical models to describe the panoply of weak interactions operating in cells. We also need better approaches to measure the biases in the spatial distributions of cellular macromolecules that result from the integrated action of multiple weak interactions. Partnerships between cell biologists, biochemists, and physicists are required to deploy these methods. Together these approaches will help us realize the dream of understanding the biological “glue” that sustains life at a molecular and cellular level.