New Models of the Cell Nucleus: Crowding, Entropic Forces, Phase Separation, and Fractals

International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology presents current advances and comprehensive reviews in cell biology--both plant and animal. Articles address structure and control of gene expression, nucleocytoplasmic interactions, control of cell development and differentiation, and cell transformation and growth. Impact factor for 2012: 4.973.

Ideas from the fields of biophysics, physical chemistry, of polymer and colloid, and soft matter science have helped clarify the structure and functions of the cell nucleus. The development of powerful methods for modeling conformations and interactions of macromolecules has also contributed. The book aims to encourage cell and molecular biologists to become more familiar with and understand these new concepts and methods, and the crucial contributions they are making to our perception of the nucleus.

1. The Nuclear Physique
   Thoru Pederson
2. The Crowded Nucleus
   Ronald Hancock
3. Crowding in Polymer-Nanoparticle Mixtures
   Alan R. Denton
4. Crowding-Induced Formation and Structural Alteration of Nuclear Compartments: Insights from Computer Simulations
   Eun Jin Cho, Igal Szleifer and Jun Soo Kim
5. Phase Separation as a Possible Means of Nuclear Compartmentalization
   William M. Aumiller, Jr, Bradley W. Davis and Christine D. Keating
6. Formation of Multi-Protein Assemblies in the Nucleus: The Spindle Assembly Checkpoint (SAC)
   Victor M. Bolanos-Garcia
7. Characteristic Behavior of Crowding Macromolecules Confined in Cell-Sized Droplets
   Miho Yanagisawa, Takahiro Sakaue and Kenichi Yoshikawa
8. Non-Canonical Structures and their Thermodynamics of DNA and RNA Under Molecular Crowding: Beyond the Watson-Crick Double Helix
   Naoki Sugimoto
9. Computational Models of Large-Scale Genome Architecture
   Angelo Rosa and Christophe Zimmer
10. How Chromatin Looping and Nuclear Envelope Attachment Affect Genome Organization in Eukaryotic Cell Nuclei
    Hansjoerg Jerabek and Dieter W. Heermann
11. Crowding, Diffusion, and Biochemical Reactions
    Matthias Weiss
12. Importance of Crowding in Signaling, Genetic, and Metabolic Networks
    Pieter Rein ten Wolde and Andrew Mugler
13. Relevance and Limitations of Crowding, Fractal, and Polymer Models to Describe Nuclear Architecture
    Sébastien Huet, Christophe Lavelle, Hubert Ranchon, Pascal Carrivain, Jean-Marc Victor and Aurélien Bancaud