title: Cell polarity: quantitative modeling as a tool in cell biology.
abstract: Among a number of innovative approaches that have modernized cell biology, modeling has a prominent yet unusual place. One popular view is that we progress linearly, from conceptual to ever more detailed models. We review recent discoveries of cell polarity mechanisms, in which modeling played an important role, to demonstrate that the experiment-theory feedback loop requires diverse models characterized by varying levels of biological detail and mathematical complexity. We argue that a quantitative model is a tool that has to fit an experimental study, and the model's value should be judged not by how complex and detailed it is, but by what could be learned from it.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. mogilner@math.ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mogilner
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Allard
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wollman
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D016764:Cell Polarity; D003198:Computer Simulation; D025461:Feedback, Physiological; D008954:Models, Biological; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D020846:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein, Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism; D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; C084013:RSR1 protein, S cerevisiae; D020846:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein, Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins