TY  - JOUR
A1  - Beck, Martin
A1  - Covino, Roberto
A1  - Hänelt, Inga
A1  - Müller-McNicoll, Michaela
T1  - Understanding the cell: future views of structural biology
T2  - Cell
N2  - Determining the structure and mechanisms of all individual functional modules of cells at high molecular detail has often been seen as equal to understanding how cells work. Recent technical advances have led to a flush of high-resolution structures of various macromolecular machines, but despite this wealth of detailed information, our understanding of cellular function remains incomplete. Here, we discuss present-day limitations of structural biology and highlight novel technologies that may enable us to analyze molecular functions directly inside cells. We predict that the progression toward structural cell biology will involve a shift toward conceptualizing a 4D virtual reality of cells using digital twins. These will capture cellular segments in a highly enriched molecular detail, include dynamic changes, and facilitate simulations of molecular processes, leading to novel and experimentally testable predictions. Transferring biological questions into algorithms that learn from the existing wealth of data and explore novel solutions may ultimately unveil how cells work.
KW  - structural biology
KW  - digital twin
KW  - computational modeling
KW  - cellular self-organization
Y1  - 2024
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/82885
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-828858
SN  - 0092-8674
VL  - 187
IS  - 3
SP  - 545
EP  - 562
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - New York, NY
ER  -