All articles tagged with #intracellular transport
Using AlphaFold, Cornell researchers identified Avl9 as an off switch that suppresses Arf1 to regulate intracellular protein trafficking. This reveals a broader DENN-domain–protein system controlling cellular transport, with implications for cancer cell movement and tumor progression, and demonstrates AI’s power to accelerate exploratory biology.
A new perspective on the cell challenges the machine concept and suggests that cellular behavior is probabilistic rather than deterministic. The Brownian ratchet model replaces the power-stroke model for intracellular transport, showing how order can arise from chaos. The study of individual cells reveals isogenic heterogeneity, indicating that cells do not all behave in identical ways despite possessing identical genetic programs. This probabilistic nature allows cells to adapt rapidly to changing environmental conditions. The fluid and dynamic view of the cell raises questions about materialism and suggests the presence of cellular cognition. However, this new perspective faces resistance due to its departure from reductionistic and deterministic views.