Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16504098›Full record

ArticleTheoretical biology & medical modelling2006

Distinguishing between linear and exponential cell growth during the division cycle: single-cell studies, cell-culture studies, and the object of cell-cycle research.

Stephen Cooper

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Theoretical biology & medical modelling, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed, 102 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The logarithmic phase as a therapeutic direction: evaluating pharmacological strategies against cancer progression.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Nonlinear memory in cell-division dynamics across species.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
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  9. What programs the size of animal cells?Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022
    Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Modeling cell population dynamics.In silico biology · 2019
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Stephen CooperDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0620, USA. cooper@umich.edu
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor · US

Funding

XenograftP30CA046592 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI THEODORE S LAWRENCE · 1988 to 2026
$178.2M
NCI NIH HHS 5 P30 CA46592NCI NIH HHS P30 CA046592
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTwo approaches to understanding growth during the cell cycle are single-cell studies, where growth during the cell cycle of a single cell is measured, and cell-culture studies, where growth during the cell cycle of a large number of cells as an aggregate is analyzed. Mitchison has proposed that single-cell studies, because they show variations in cell growth patterns, are more suitable for understanding cell growth during the cell cycle, and should be preferred over culture studies. Specifically, Mitchison argues that one can glean the cellular growth pattern by microscopically observing single cells during the division cycle. In contrast to Mitchison's viewpoint, it is argued here that the biological laws underlying cell growth are not to be found in single-cell studies. The cellular growth law can and should be understood by studying cells as an aggregate.

resultsThe purpose or objective of cell cycle analysis is presented and discussed. These ideas are applied to the controversy between proponents of linear growth as a possible growth pattern during the cell cycle and the proponents of exponential growth during the cell cycle. Differential (pulse) and integral (single cell) experiments are compared with regard to cell cycle analysis and it is concluded that pulse-labeling approaches are preferred over microscopic examination of cell growth for distinguishing between linear and exponential growth patterns. Even more to the point, aggregate experiments are to be preferred to single-cell studies.

conclusionThe logical consistency of exponential growth--integrating and accounting for biochemistry, cell biology, and rigorous experimental analysis--leads to the conclusion that proposals of linear growth are the result of experimental perturbations and measurement limitations. It is proposed that the universal pattern of cell growth during the cell cycle is exponential.

Indexed as

Cell Culture TechniquesCell CycleCell ProliferationCellsModels, Biological

Identifiers

PMID16504098
PMCPMC1402260
OpenAlexW2147724830

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.