The Next Frontier: Quantitative Biochemistry in Living Cells

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftÜbersichtsartikel (Review)BeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • Alf Honigmann - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Autor:in)
  • André Nadler - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Autor:in)

Abstract

Researchers striving to convert biology into an exact science foremost rely on structural biology and biochemical reconstitution approaches to obtain quantitative data. However, cell biological research is moving at an ever-accelerating speed into areas where these approaches lose much of their edge. Intrinsically unstructured proteins and biochemical interaction networks composed of interchangeable, multivalent, and unspecific interactions pose unique challenges to quantitative biology, as do processes that occur in discrete cellular microenvironments. Here we argue that a conceptual change in our way of conducting biochemical experiments is required to take on these new challenges. We propose that reconstitution of cellular processes in vitro should be much more focused on mimicking the cellular environment in vivo, an approach that requires detailed knowledge of the material properties of cellular compartments, essentially requiring a material science of the cell. In a similar vein, we suggest that quantitative biochemical experiments in vitro should be accompanied by corresponding experiments in vivo, as many newly relevant cellular processes are highly context-dependent. In essence, this constitutes a call for chemical biologists to convert their discipline from a proof-of-principle science to an area that could rightfully be called quantitative biochemistry in living cells. In this essay, we discuss novel techniques and experimental strategies with regard to their potential to fulfill such ambitious aims.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)47-55
Seitenumfang9
FachzeitschriftBiochemistry
Jahrgang57
Ausgabenummer1
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 9 Jan. 2018
Peer-Review-StatusJa
Extern publiziertJa

Externe IDs

PubMed 29200271
ORCID /0000-0003-0475-3790/work/161889541

Schlagworte

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete