Cellular functions, such as signal transmission, are carried out by ‘modules’ made up of many species of interacting molecules. Understanding how modules work has depended on combining phenomenological analysis with molecular studies. General principles that govern the structure and behaviour of modules may be discovered with help from synthetic sciences such as engineering and computer science, from stronger interactions between experiment and theory in cell biology, and from an appreciation of evolutionary constraints.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Stock, J. B. & Surette, M. G. in Escherichia coli and Salmonella: Cellular and Molecular Biology (eds Neidhardt, F. C. & Curtiss, R.) 1103–1129 (ASM Press, Washington, DC, 1996).
Herskowitz, I. Cell 80, 187–197 ( 1995).
Posas, F., Takekawa, M. & Saito, H. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 1, 175 –182 (1998).
Hsu, H. et al. Biophys. J. 65, 1196–1206 (1993).
Waxman, D. & Peck, J. R. Science 279, 1210–1213 (1998).
Konopka, J. B., Jenness, D. D. & Hartwell, L. H. Cell 54, 609– 620 (1988).
Goy, M. F., Springer, M. S. & Adler, J. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 74, 4964–4968 (1977).
Barkai, N. & Leibler, S. Nature 387, 913–917 (1997).
Anderson, P. W. Science 177, 393–396 ( 1972).
Belmont, L. D., Hyman, A. A., Sawin, K. E. & Mitchison, T. J. Cell 62, 579–589 ( 1990).
Gliksman, N. R., Parsons, S. F. & Salmon, E. D. J. Cell Biol. 119, 1271– 1276 (1992).
Alberts, B. & Miake-Lye, R. Cell 68, 415–420 (1992).
Shapiro, J. A. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 870, 23–35 (1999).
Hopfield, J. J. J. Theor. Biol. 171, 53–60 (1994).
Bray, D. Nature 376, 307–312 ( 1995).
Morgan, D. O. Annu. Rev. Cell. Dev. Biol. 13, 261– 291 (1997).
Berg, H. C. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. Quant. Biol. 53, 1– 9 (1988).
Dill, K. A. & Chan, H. S. Nature Struct. Biol. 4, 10–19 (1997).
Heald, R. et al. Nature 382, 420–425 (1996).
Sejnowski, T. J. & Rosenberg, C. R. Complex Systems 1, 145–168 ( 1987).
Jacob, F. Science 196, 1161–1166 ( 1977).
Kirschner, M. & Gerhart, J. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 95, 8420–8427 (1998).
Nurse, P. in Limits Of Reductionism In Biology Ciba Foundation Symp. 213 93–101 (1998).
Strohman, R. C. Nature Biotech. 15, 194–200 (1997).
Adams, S. R. & Tsien, R. Y. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 55, 755–784 (1993).
Schena, M., Shalon, D., Davis, R. W. & Brown, P. O. Science 270, 467–470 (1995).
Brown, P. O. & Botstein, D. Nature Genet. 21, 33–37 (1999).
Murray, A. W. & Szostak, J. W. Nature 305, 189–193 (1983).
Hodgkin, A. L. & Huxley, A. F. J. Physiol. 117, 500–544 ( 1952).
Herskowitz, I. & Hagen, D. Annu. Rev. Genet. 14, 399–445 ( 1980).
Lwoff, A. Bact. Rev. 17, 269 (1953).
Ptashne, M. Nature 214, 232–234 ( 1967).
Ptashne, M. et al. Cell 19, 1–11 (1980).
McAdams, H. H. & Shapiro, L. Science 269, 650–656 (1995).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hartwell, L., Hopfield, J., Leibler, S. et al. From molecular to modular cell biology. Nature 402 (Suppl 6761), C47–C52 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/35011540
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35011540
This article is cited by
-
Integrative network analysis suggests prioritised drugs for atopic dermatitis
Journal of Translational Medicine (2024)
-
DIP-MS: ultra-deep interaction proteomics for the deconvolution of protein complexes
Nature Methods (2024)
-
Pattern recognition in the nucleation kinetics of non-equilibrium self-assembly
Nature (2024)
-
Physical Time and Human Time
Foundations of Physics (2024)
-
The modular biochemical reaction network structure of cellular translation
npj Systems Biology and Applications (2023)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.