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Updated: Oct 3, 2025
14:27
A Cell-Free Assay Using Xenopus laevis Embryo Extracts to Study Mechanisms of Nuclear Size Regulation
Published on: August 8, 2016
8.5K
The correlation between cell and nucleus size is explained by an eukaryotic cell growth model
Yufei Wu1,2, Adrian F Pegoraro3, David A Weitz4
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Plos Computational Biology
|February 18, 2022
Summary
Cell and nuclear volumes are tightly linked in eukaryotes. Computational models reveal that transport rates and ribosome assembly significantly impact cell growth and the cell/nucleus volume ratio.
Area of Science:
- Cell biology
- Computational biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Eukaryotic cell volume is strongly correlated with nuclear volume.
- This cell-nucleus volume relationship varies with cell type, growth conditions, and environment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a computational model of eukaryotic cell growth and proteome increase.
- To investigate the influence of transport kinetics and ribosome biogenesis on cell and nuclear volumes.
Main Methods:
- Developed a computational model incorporating amino acid import, protein/ribosome synthesis/degradation, and nucleocytoplasmic transport.
- Included a model for ribosome biogenesis and assembly.
- Analyzed the impact of kinetic and transport parameters on cell and nuclear volumes.
Main Results:
- Confirmed a tight correlation between cell and nuclear volumes.
- Demonstrated that cytoplasm-nucleoplasm transport rates significantly affect cell growth rate and the cell/nucleus volume ratio.
- Showed that ribosome assembly and ribosomal protein ratios influence cell volume and growth rate.
Conclusions:
- Optimal regulation of cell growth and cell/nucleus volume ratio requires coordinated control of kinetic and transport parameters.
- This coordinated control may explain the roles of canonical growth pathways.
- The model provides a framework for detailed proteome distribution analysis with RNAseq data and a cell division mechanism.
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