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A high-throughput method to globally study the organelle morphology in S. cerevisiae
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Robustness and Universality in Organelle Size Control
Kiandokht Panjtan Amiri1, Asa Kalish1, Shankar Mukherji1
1Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA and Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|January 20, 2023
Summary
Cells precisely control organelle size through burst-like growth, maintaining flexibility while staying within limits. This biophysical mechanism ensures reliable yet adaptable organelle dimensions for cellular function.
Area of Science:
- Cellular biophysics
- Quantitative biology
Background:
- Cells must precisely regulate organelle size for function.
- Organelle size needs to be adaptable yet homeostatically controlled.
Purpose of the Study:
- To understand the quantitative principles of organelle size control.
- To investigate how cells maintain robust organelle size homeostasis.
Main Methods:
- Experimental demonstration of organelle size control.
- Theoretical prediction of a universal scaling relationship for organelle size.
Main Results:
- Cells robustly control average fluctuations in organelle size.
- Organelle sizes follow a universal scaling relationship.
- Organelle growth occurs in random bursts from a limited building block pool.
Conclusions:
- Burst-like growth is a general biophysical mechanism for organelle size regulation.
- This mechanism allows for both reliable and plastic organelle sizes.
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