The Cell as a Machine

Michael Sheetz is Chair of Biological Science at Columbia University, Founding Chair of the Department of Cell Biology at Duke University, and Founding Director of the Mechanobiology Institute at the National University of Singapore. He is also a recipient of the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award. Hanry Yu is a Professor in both the Department of Physiology and the Mechanobiology Institute at the National University of Singapore, and a Group Leader at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore. He has co-taught the material in this book with Michael Sheetz at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, and the National University of Singapore.

Part I. Principle of Complex Function in Robust Machines: 1. Robust self-replicating machines shaped by evolution; 2. Complex functions of robust machines with emergent properties; 3. Integrated complex functions with dynamic feedback; 4. Cells exhibit multiple states, each with different functions; 5. Life at low Reynolds number and the mesoscale leads to stochastic phenomena; Part II. Design and Operation of Complex Functions: 6. Engineering lipid bilayers to provide fluid boundaries and mechanical controls; 7. Membrane trafficking – flow and barriers create asymmetries; 8. Signaling and cell volume control through ion transport and volume regulators; 9. Structuring a cell by cytoskeletal filaments; 10. Moving and maintaining functional assemblies with motors; 11. Microenvironment controls life, death and regeneration; 12. Adjusting cell shape and forces with dynamic filament networks; 13. DNA packaging for information retrieval and propagation; 14. Transcribing the right information and packaging for delivery; 15. Turning RNA into functional proteins and removing unwanted proteins; Part III. Coordination of Complex Functions: 16. How to approach a coordinated function – cell rigidity sensing and force generation across length scale; 17. Integration of cellular functions for decision making; 18. Moving from omnipotency to death; 19. Cancer versus regeneration – the wrong versus right response to the microenvironment.