ArticleNature2008
On the spontaneous emergence of cell polarity.
Article in Nature, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 117 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
117 citing papers in PubMed, 260 citations in OpenAlex.
- Long-range mutual activation establishes Rho and Rac polarity during cell migration.Nature cell biology · 2026Article
- Decoding cellular population dynamics through mechanistic modelling and statistical data analysis.NPJ systems biology and applications · 2026Review
- Global genetic rewiring during compensatory evolution in the yeast polarity network.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Construction and phenotypic classification of synthetic dual-pole Escherichia coli cells.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Physical Forces in Regeneration of Cells and Tissues.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology · 2025Review
- Polarity-JaM: an image analysis toolbox for cell polarity, junction and morphology quantification.Nature communications · 2025Article
- From polarity to pathology: Decoding the role of cell orientation in osteoarthritis.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2024Review
- Bimodality in Ras signaling originates from processivity of the Ras activator SOS without deterministic bistability.Science advances · 2024Article
- Understanding the Role of Connexins in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Molecular and Prognostic Implications.Cancers · 2024Review
- Patterning of the cell cortex by Rho GTPases.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2024Review
- Redundancy and the role of protein copy numbers in the cell polarization machinery of budding yeast.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Particle-based simulations reveal two positive feedback loops allow relocation and stabilization of the polarity site during yeast mating.PLoS computational biology · 2023Article
- Oligomerization of peripheral membrane proteins provides tunable control of cell surface polarity.Biophysical journal · 2022Article
- Picking winners in cell-cell collisions: Wetting, speed, and contact.Physical review. E · 2022Article
- Size regulation of multiple organelles competing for a limiting subunit pool.PLoS computational biology · 2022Article
- Up-regulation of the Cdc42 GTPase limits the replicative life span of budding yeast.Molecular biology of the cell · 2022Article
- Constrained Nonlinear and Mixed Effects Integral Differential Equation Models for Dynamic Cell Polarity Signaling.Frontiers in plant science · 2022Article
- A positive feedback loop involving the Spa2 SHD domain contributes to focal polarization.PloS one · 2022Article
- Construction of intracellular asymmetry and asymmetric division in Escherichia coli.Nature communications · 2021Article
- Coordinating cell polarization and morphogenesis through mechanical feedback.PLoS computational biology · 2021Article
57 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Diverse cell polarity networks require positive feedback for locally amplifying distributions of signalling molecules at the plasma membrane. Additional mechanisms, such as directed transport or coupled inhibitors, have been proposed to be required for reinforcing a unique axis of polarity. Here we analyse a simple model of positive feedback, with strong analogy to the 'stepping stone' model of population genetics, in which a single species of diffusible, membrane-bound signalling molecules can self-recruit from a cytoplasmic pool. We identify an intrinsic stochastic mechanism through which positive feedback alone is sufficient to account for the spontaneous establishment of a single site of polarity. We find that the polarization frequency has an inverse dependence on the number of signalling molecules: the frequency of polarization decreases as the number of molecules becomes large. Experimental observation of polarizing Cdc42 in budding yeast is consistent with this prediction. Our work suggests that positive feedback can work alone or with additional mechanisms to create robust cell polarity.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.