Scaling properties of cell and organelle size

Chan, Yee-Hung Mark; Marshall, Wallace F.

doi:10.4161/org.6.2.11464

Cited by 122 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…[46][47][48] A striking example of this is the 20-year bacterial evolution experiment where E. coli (Escherichia coli) were cultured in vitro for 40,000 generations. 49 The E. coli increased their volume and some strains lost their characteristic rod-like morphology and evolved a spherical shape, which reduced their surface area to volume ratio and improved their fitness for the culture microenvironment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Organelle structure is linked to functional capacity 48 and, for example, larger mitochondrial volume and surface area correlate with higher mitochondrial enzyme activity. 52 A change in volume will change the concentration of reactants and reaction rates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Diffusion of molecules from a centrally located organelle reaches the entire cell volume more quickly than molecules diffusing from the far end of an elongated cell. 48 An organelle that is compact will sample less cell volume than an organelle that is widely distributed, which will influence how quickly cargo can be delivered from the organelle to its destination. Modelling of signal transduction cascades indicates that membrane-bound second messenger concentrations are decreased at the tips of elongated cells when the signal originates from the cytoplasm, leading to molecular signaling gradients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Nanofiber scaffolds influence organelle structure and function in bone marrow stromal cells

Tutak

Giri

Bajcsy

et al. 2016

J. Biomed. Mater. Res.

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Tutak, Wojtek; Jyotsnendu, Giri; Bajcsy, Peter; and Simon, Carl G. Jr., "Nanofiber scaffolds influence organelle structure and function in bone marrow stromal cells" (2016 Abstract: Recent work demonstrates that osteoprogenitor cell culture on nanofiber scaffolds can promote differentiation. This response may be driven by changes in cell morphology caused by the three-dimensional (3D) structure of nanofibers. We hypothesized that nanofiber effects on cell behavior may be mediated by changes in organelle structure and function. To test this hypothesis, human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) were cultured on poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers scaffolds and on PCL flat spuncoat films. After 1 dayculture, hBMSCs were stained for actin, nucleus, mitochondria, and peroxisomes, and then imaged using 3D confocal microscopy. Imaging revealed that the hBMSC cell body (actin) and peroxisomal volume were reduced during culture on nanofibers. In addition, the nucleus and peroxisomes occupied a larger fraction of cell volume during culture on nanofibers than on films, suggesting enhancement of the nuclear and peroxisomal functional capacity. Organelles adopted morphologies with greater 3D-character on nanofibers, where the Z-Depth (a measure of cell thickness) was increased. Comparisons of organelle positions indicated that the nucleus, mitochondria, and peroxisomes were closer to the cell center (actin) for nanofibers, suggesting that nanofiber culture induced active organelle positioning. The smaller cell volume and more centralized organelle positioning would reduce the energy cost of inter-organelle vesicular transport during culture on nanofibers. Finally, hBMSC bioassay measurements (DNA, peroxidase, bioreductive potential, lactate, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP)) indicated that peroxidase activity may be enhanced during nanofiber culture. These results demonstrate that culture of hBMSCs on nanofibers caused changes in organelle structure and positioning, which may affect organelle functional capacity and transport.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Nanofiber scaffolds influence organelle structure and function in bone marrow stromal cells

Tutak

Giri

Bajcsy

et al. 2016

J. Biomed. Mater. Res.

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“…This effect ramifies down to the organelle level, as many organelles have been shown to scale with cell size, with the size of an organelle (as judged by its surface area or volume) often scaling as a power law with the volume of the cell (Wuehr et al, 2008;Chan and Marshall, 2010;Uchida et al, 2011;Rafelski et al, 2012;Chan and Marshall, 2014). The surface area and volume can, and often do, show different scaling exponents (Chan and Marshall, 2014), and as a result, as a cell grows, not only does organelle size increase but organelle shape can additionally change as a function of the surface-to-volume ratio of the organelle.…”

Section: Sources Of Organelle-level Heterogeneity Temporal Heterogenementioning

confidence: 99%

“…To address this question, this Commentary will focus on heterogeneity at the level of subcellular structure, that is to say, at the level of organelle size, shape and distribution (Rafelski and Marshall, 2008;Marshall, 2011;Chan and Marshall, 2010), and attempt to characterize the sources and consequences of fluctuations at this scale. It is at such a scale that molecular processes become cellular processes, and it is therefore possible, at least in theory, that organelle scale variation reflects molecular-level variations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organelles – understanding noise and heterogeneity in cell biology at an intermediate scale

Chang

Marshall

2017

Journal of Cell Science

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Many studies over the years have shown that non-genetic mechanisms for producing cell-to-cell variation can lead to highly variable behaviors across genetically identical populations of cells. Most work to date has focused on gene expression noise as the primary source of phenotypic heterogeneity, yet other sources may also contribute. In this Commentary, we explore organelle-level heterogeneity as a potential secondary source of cellular 'noise' that contributes to phenotypic heterogeneity. We explore mechanisms for generating organelle heterogeneity and present evidence of functional links between organelle morphology and cellular behavior. Given the many instances in which molecular-level heterogeneity has been linked to phenotypic heterogeneity, we posit that organelle heterogeneity may similarly contribute to overall phenotypic heterogeneity and underline the importance of studying organelle heterogeneity to develop a more comprehensive understanding of phenotypic heterogeneity. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the medical challenges associated with phenotypic heterogeneity and outline how improved methods for characterizing and controlling this heterogeneity may lead to improved therapeutic strategies and outcomes for patients.

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Peroxisomes undergo morphological changes in a light‐dependent manner with proximity to the nucleus

2023

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The size and shape of organelles can influence the rate of biochemical reactions in cells. Previous studies have suggested that organelle morphology changes due to intra‐ and extracellular environmental responses, affecting the metabolic efficiency of and signal transduction emanating from neighboring organelles. In this study, we tested the possibility that intracellularly distributed organelles exhibit a heterogeneous response to intra‐ and extracellular environments. We detected a high correlation between peroxisome morphology and distance to the nucleus in light‐exposed cells. Moreover, the proximity area between chloroplasts and peroxisomes varied with distance to the nucleus. These results indicate that peroxisome morphology varies with proximity to the nucleus, suggesting the presence of a nucleus–peroxisome signal transduction cascade mediated by chloroplasts.

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Scaling properties of cell and organelle size

Cited by 122 publications

References 106 publications

Nanofiber scaffolds influence organelle structure and function in bone marrow stromal cells

Nanofiber scaffolds influence organelle structure and function in bone marrow stromal cells

Organelles – understanding noise and heterogeneity in cell biology at an intermediate scale

Peroxisomes undergo morphological changes in a light‐dependent manner with proximity to the nucleus

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