Quiros DN, Nieto F, Mayorga LS. From cartoons to quantitative models in Golgi transport.
Biol Cell 2020;
113:146-164. [PMID:
33275796 DOI:
10.1111/boc.202000107]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 11/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Cell biology is evolving to become a more formal and quantitative science. In particular, several mathematical models have been proposed to address Golgi self-organisation and protein and lipid transport. However, most scientific articles about the Golgi apparatus are still using static cartoons that miss the dynamism of this organelle.
RESULTS
In this report, we show that schematic drawings of Golgi trafficking can be easily translated into an agent-based model using the Repast platform. The simulations generate an active interplay among cisternae and vesicles rendering quantitative predictions about Golgi stability and transport of soluble and membrane-associated cargoes. The models can incorporate complex networks of molecular interactions and chemical reactions by association with COPASI, a software that handles ordinary differential equations.
CONCLUSIONS
The strategy described provides a simple, flexible and multiscale support to analyse Golgi transport. The simulations can be used to address issues directly linked to the mechanism of transport or as a way to incorporate the complexity of trafficking to other cellular processes that occur in dynamic organelles.
SIGNIFICANCE
We show that the rules implicitly present in most schematic representations of intracellular trafficking can be used to build dynamic models with quantitative outputs that can be compared with experimental results.
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