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Mitotic spindle: lessons from theoretical modeling
Cell biology is immensely complex. To understand how cells work, we try to find patterns and suggest hypotheses to identify underlying mechanisms. However, it is not always easy to create a coherent picture from a huge amount of experimental data on biological systems, where the main players have mu...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
The American Society for Cell Biology
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8098832/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33507108 http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E20-05-0335 |
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author | Tolic´, Iva M. Pavin, Nenad |
author_facet | Tolic´, Iva M. Pavin, Nenad |
author_sort | Tolic´, Iva M. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Cell biology is immensely complex. To understand how cells work, we try to find patterns and suggest hypotheses to identify underlying mechanisms. However, it is not always easy to create a coherent picture from a huge amount of experimental data on biological systems, where the main players have multiple interactions or act in redundant pathways. In such situations, when a hypothesis does not lead to a conclusion in a direct way, theoretical modeling is a powerful tool because it allows us to formulate hypotheses in a quantitative manner and understand their consequences. A successful model should not only reproduce the basic features of the system but also provide exciting predictions, motivating new experiments. Much is learned when a model based on generally accepted knowledge cannot explain experiments of interest, as this indicates that the original hypothesis needs to be revised. In this Perspective, we discuss these points using our experiences in combining experiments with theory in the field of mitotic spindle mechanics. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8098832 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | The American Society for Cell Biology |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-80988322021-05-07 Mitotic spindle: lessons from theoretical modeling Tolic´, Iva M. Pavin, Nenad Mol Biol Cell Perspectives Cell biology is immensely complex. To understand how cells work, we try to find patterns and suggest hypotheses to identify underlying mechanisms. However, it is not always easy to create a coherent picture from a huge amount of experimental data on biological systems, where the main players have multiple interactions or act in redundant pathways. In such situations, when a hypothesis does not lead to a conclusion in a direct way, theoretical modeling is a powerful tool because it allows us to formulate hypotheses in a quantitative manner and understand their consequences. A successful model should not only reproduce the basic features of the system but also provide exciting predictions, motivating new experiments. Much is learned when a model based on generally accepted knowledge cannot explain experiments of interest, as this indicates that the original hypothesis needs to be revised. In this Perspective, we discuss these points using our experiences in combining experiments with theory in the field of mitotic spindle mechanics. The American Society for Cell Biology 2021-02-01 /pmc/articles/PMC8098832/ /pubmed/33507108 http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E20-05-0335 Text en © 2021 Tolic´ and Pavin. “ASCB®,” “The American Society for Cell Biology®,” and “Molecular Biology of the Cell®” are registered trademarks of The American Society for Cell Biology. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License. |
spellingShingle | Perspectives Tolic´, Iva M. Pavin, Nenad Mitotic spindle: lessons from theoretical modeling |
title | Mitotic spindle: lessons from theoretical modeling |
title_full | Mitotic spindle: lessons from theoretical modeling |
title_fullStr | Mitotic spindle: lessons from theoretical modeling |
title_full_unstemmed | Mitotic spindle: lessons from theoretical modeling |
title_short | Mitotic spindle: lessons from theoretical modeling |
title_sort | mitotic spindle: lessons from theoretical modeling |
topic | Perspectives |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8098832/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33507108 http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E20-05-0335 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT tolicivam mitoticspindlelessonsfromtheoreticalmodeling AT pavinnenad mitoticspindlelessonsfromtheoreticalmodeling |