Complexity and self-organization in the evolution of cell polarization

Cellular life exhibits order and complexity, which typically increase over the course of evolution. Cell polarization is a well-studied example of an ordering process that breaks the internal symmetry of a cell by establishing a preferential axis. Like many cellular processes, polarization is driven by self-organization, meaning that the...

Complex Simplicity: Towards reconstituting Cdc42-based polarity establishment

Saccharomyces cerevisiae proliferates through budding, where a daughter cell grows by budding off one side of the mother. The first step towards budding is polarity establishment: here Cdc42 accumulates in one spot on the membrane, marking the site of bud-emergence. Cdc42 accumulation arises through at least two interconnected regulatory...

Fluorescence microscopy for Cdc42 quantification in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

In budding yeast, a certain concentration of the GTPase Cdc42 is optimal for cell division. This optimal concentration depends on the phenotype and genetic background of the cells. Due to bet hedging, the Cdc42 concentration is different between cells in a population and it is expected that the concentration, measured for many cells, is gamma...

Minimal in vitro systems shed light on cell polarity

Cell polarity - the morphological and functional differentiation of cellular compartments in a directional manner - is required for processes such as orientation of cell division, directed cellular growth and motility. How the interplay of components within the complexity of a cell leads to cell polarity is still heavily debated. In this...