Integrating cellular and molecular structures and dynamics into whole-cell models

Zaida Luthey-Schulten; Zane R Thornburg; Benjamin R Gilbert

doi:10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102392

Integrating cellular and molecular structures and dynamics into whole-cell models

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2022 Aug:75:102392. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102392. Epub 2022 May 24.

Authors

Zaida Luthey-Schulten¹, Zane R Thornburg², Benjamin R Gilbert²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; Center for the Physics of the Living Cell, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. Electronic address: zan@illinois.edu.
² Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.

PMID: 35623188
DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102392

Abstract

A complete description of the state of the cell requires knowledge of its size, shape, components, intracellular reactions, and interactions with its environment-all of these as a function of time and cell growth. Adding to this list is the need for theoretical models and simulations that integrate and help to interpret this daunting amount of experimental data. It seems like an overwhelming list of requirements, but progress is being made on many fronts. In this review, we discuss the current challenges and problems in obtaining sufficient information about each aspect of a dynamical whole-cell model (DWCM) for simple and well-studied bacterial systems.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Models, Theoretical*
Molecular Structure