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Size control: cell proliferation does not equal growth

T T Su¹, P H O'Farrell

¹Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco 94143-0448, USA. tintin@cgl.ucsf.edu

Current Biology : CB

|October 13, 1998

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Organism size is not determined by cell division numbers. Instead, altering cell proliferation rates results in normal-sized structures composed of unusually small or large cells.

Area of Science:

Developmental biology
Cell biology
Organismal growth

Background:

Cell division is a fundamental process in organismal development.
The relationship between cell proliferation and overall organism size is a long-standing question in biology.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether increasing cell division leads to larger organismal size.
To determine the cellular basis of organismal size regulation.

Main Methods:

Review of classic and recent experimental findings on cell proliferation and organism size.
Analysis of studies altering cell division rates in model organisms.

Main Results:

Experiments altering cell proliferation do not change overall body size.

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Changes in cell division result in compensatory changes in cell size, not cell number.

Organisms exhibit normal-sized structures with either exceptionally small or large cells.

Conclusions:

Organismal size is regulated independently of cell division number.
Cell size, rather than cell number, is adjusted to maintain overall body structure size when proliferation rates change.