Frontiers in Biophysics

Cellular reconstitution: Rebuilding biological systems from the bottom-up

Abstract:
Understanding the molecular basis of cellular behaviour is a central goal in biology and a critical guide for medical research. Increasing knowledge of the essential proteins in a complex process such as crawling motility raises the tantalizing question: Do we know enough to build it? In vitro reconstitution provides an import tool for identifying the roles of individual molecules, but defining components is not enough. Progress towards reconstitution of micron-scale cellular structures and processes has been limited by the challenges of generating in vitro reconstitutions that capture the spatial organization, physical constraints, and dynamics of living cells. This talk will describe on-going efforts to create functional reconstitutions of cytoskeletal and membrane processes involved in cellular protrusions and membrane transport. The lessons of what works – and what doesn’t – are helping to guide efforts to build biological systems from molecular parts.