FBS Colloquia No.171Laboratory of Pattern Formation

Building a virtual Golgi body from a scratch

Despite the recent developments in microscope technology, it is still difficult to observe intracellular structures in detail. In particular, the morphological dynamics of organelles remain elusive. To overcome this situation, we propose an alternative approach in which we reproduce the dynamics of organelles using computer　simulations with physical models. Applying this approach to the Golgi reassembly process in mitotic cells, we reconstructed the three-dimensional morphological dynamics generating the characteristic　layered shapes from aggregations of vesicles. We also revealed the　self-organizing nature of the process.