Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, James Franck Institute, and Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Mol Biol Cell. 2012 Nov;23(21):4165-6. doi: 10.1091/mbc.E12-05-0353.
Cells are made up of complex assemblies of cytoskeletal proteins that facilitate force transmission from the molecular to cellular scale to regulate cell shape and force generation. The "living matter" formed by the cytoskeleton facilitates versatile and robust behaviors of cells, including their migration, adhesion, division, and morphology, that ultimately determine tissue architecture and mechanics. Elucidating the underlying physical principles of such living matter provides great opportunities in both biology and physics. For physicists, the cytoskeleton provides an exceptional toolbox to study materials far from equilibrium. For biologists, these studies will provide new understanding of how molecular-scale processes determine cell morphological changes.
细胞由复杂的细胞骨架蛋白组装而成，这些蛋白促进力从分子尺度传递到细胞尺度，从而调节细胞形状和力的产生。细胞骨架形成的“生命物质”促进了细胞的多种灵活和稳健的行为，包括它们的迁移、黏附、分裂和形态，这些最终决定了组织的结构和力学。阐明这种生命物质的潜在物理原理在生物学和物理学领域都提供了巨大的机会。对于物理学家来说，细胞骨架提供了一个极好的工具箱，可以研究远离平衡的材料。对于生物学家来说，这些研究将提供对分子尺度过程如何决定细胞形态变化的新认识。
