glucose membrane
thickness
transport
vesicle
water
EM
protein ribosome
molecule resolution
10–9 (nm)
HIV
light microscope
resolution
E. coli
10–6 (µm)
budding
yeast
adherent
mammalian cell
size (meters)
(A)
(B)
DNA
T7
T7
protein coat
sheath
φ29
cell
membrane
100 nm
SYMMETRIC VIRUSES
cowpea chlorotic
mottle
human papilloma
polio
30 nm
ASYMMETRIC VIRUSES
HIV
influenza
100 nm
100 nm
15 nm
P30, a molecular
measuring tape
newborn cell volume (μm3)
TSB
2
synthetic rich
glucose + 12 a.a.
glucose + 6 a.a.
1
glucose
sorbitol
glycerol
0.5
1
2
growth rate (1/hour)
population average
growth law
3
single-cell data
constant Δ model
(A)
t2
flow traps and
moves cells in
and out of cantilever
t1
infer mass from tiny
shifts in cantilever
oscillation frequency
600
exponential curve fit
linear curve fit
500
400
300
0
4
8 12 16
time (min)
20
(C)
growth rate (fg/s)
buoyant mass (fg)
(B)
B. subtilis
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
200 400 600 800 1000
initial buoyant mass (fg)
10 µm
frequency
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
25
50
75
cell size (fL)
100
10 µm
frequency
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
500
1000
1500
2000
cell size (fL)
2500
3000
horizontal
cell
ganglion
cell
retina
lens
pupil
cornea
iris
optic
nerve
bipolar
cell
amacrine
cell
rod
cone
rods
120,000
80,000
temporal
40,000
0
20
15
optic disc
spatial density (cells/mm2)
cones
160,000
nasal
10
5
0
5
10
retinal eccentricity (mm)
15
20
25
(A)
(B)
rods
cones
1 µm
10 µm
rod cell
nucleus
inner
segment
outer
segment
B
A
C
N
M
D
E
G
F
I
H
K
J
O
P
Q
V
R
W
U
10 µm
Y
T
S
L
2 µm
(C)
(A)
(E)
(F)
(G)
(B)
(D)
(A)
(B)
nucleus
nucleus
cell wall
mitochondrion
2 µm
(C)
5 µm
(D)
10 µm
~10 µm
6
nuclear area (µm2)
5
4
3
2
haploid
diploid
1
0
0
10
20
30
cell area (µm2)
40
(A)
(B)
histone octomer
DNA
10 nm
10,000
nuclear volume (µm3)
14
13
11
1000
12
Vnuc = 3 Vcell
10
4
3
100
5
8
7
6
9
10
Vnuc = 1 Vcell
10
2
1
10
100
1000
10,000
cell volume (µm3)
100,000
nucleus
ER membrane
ER lumen
cytoplasm
1 µm
anaphase
0 min
telophase
5 min
ER marker (Sec61β)
chromosome marker (H2B)
cytokinesis
11 min
early interphase
178 min
10 μm
lysosomes
13%
mitochondria
17%
endoplasmic reticulum 3%
vesicles
2%
external
65%
reticular
compact
(A)
nucleus
lysosome
Golgi apparatus
(C)
mitochondria
1 μm
(D)
endoplasmic
reticulum
5 μm
mitochondria
(B)
10 μm
≈ 1 μm
outer membrane
(B)
intermembrane
inner membrane
space
(A)
matrix
0.5 µm
cristae
3D view of mitochondrion
chloroplast envelope
vacuole
thylakoid
starch
lipid
grana
cell wall
1 µm
10 µm
(B)
(A)
(C)
synaptic
vesicle
fusing
synaptic
cleft
Na+
0.5 µm
synaptic vesicles
0.5 µm
Na+ Na+
postsynaptic receptor
(B)
dendrite
axon
(C)
synapse
700
number of observations
(A)
synapse
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
0.5 μm
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
area (μm2)
0.4
0.5
(A)
(B)
synapses
10 µm
synapses
4 µm
CO2
phospholipid
(PC)
sugar
(glucose)
nucleotide
(dTMP)
NAD+
ATP
O2
N2
Cl–
Mg2+
amino acid
(serine)
K+
Na+
H2O
1 nm
protein
(myoglobin, 153 aa)
mRNA
(myoglobin, 1078 bases)
5 nm
5′ cap
3′ polyA tail
5′ UTR
coding sequence (465 bases)
3′ UTR
(A)
(B)
(C)
60 nm
60 nm
insulin (2hiu)
serum albumin (1e7i)
trypsin (2ptc)
10 nm
antibody (1igt)
hemoglobin (4hhb)
ATP synthase (1c17)
triose phosphate isomerase (7tim)
hexokinase (1cza)
Rubisco (1rcx)
alcohol dehydrogenase (2ohx)
1
pepsin
4
2
phosphofructokinase
12
max
protocatechuate
3,4-dioxygenase
3
porin
6
aspartate carbamoyltransferase
24
ferritin
4
potassium
channel
6
complement C1
8
glycolate oxidase
12
glutamine synthetase
60
satellite tobacco
necrosis virus
10 nm
genomic length distribution
E. coli [N = 4303]
budding yeast [N = 6723]
median = 277
human HeLa [N = 22,257]
median = 358
median = 431
frequency
0.15
0.10
0.05
0
0
200 400 600 800
protein length (aa)
0
200 400 600 800
protein length (aa)
0
200 400 600 800
protein length (aa)
proteomic abundance weighted distribution
median = 209
median = 368
median = 248
frequency
0.15
0.10
0.05
0
0
200 400 600 800
protein length (aa)
0
200 400 600 800
protein length (aa)
0
200 400 600 800
protein length (aa)
nucleosome
(1aoi)
lac repressor
(1lbh+1efa)
RNA polymerase
(1i6h)
catabolite gene
activator protein
(1cgp)
nucleosome
(1aoi)
ribosome
(1fjf+1jj2)
TATA-binding
protein/
transcription
factor IIB
(1ais)
DNA
polymerase
(1tau)
EF-TU
(1ttt)
transfer
RNA
(4tna)
glutamyl tRNA
synthetase
(1euq)
chaperonin GroEL/ES
(1aon)
topoisomerase
(1ej9)
10 nm
prokaryotic
RNA polymerase (4kmu)
prokaryotic
ribosome (2wdk+2wdl)
eukaryotic
RNA polymerase (1i6h)
eukaryotic ribosome
(3u5b+3u5c+3u5d+3u5e)
10 nm
outer membrane
cell wall
inner membrane
4 nm
100 nm
0.126 nm
phospholipid
≈ 4 nm
spingolipid
cholesterol
bolalipid
porin
(2por)
ATP synthase
(1c17+1e79)
aquaporin
(1fqy)
gramicidin potassium
(1grm)
channel
(1bl8)
cytochrome b-c1
complex (1bgy)
cholesterol
mechanosensitive
channel
(1msl)
rhodopsin
(1f88)
light-harvesting
complex (1kzu)
phospholipid
photosynthetic
reaction center
(1prc)
photosystem I (1jb0)
10 nm
(A)
(B)
actin (1atn)
microtubule (1tub)
10 µm
10 nm
5' UTR
protein
mRNA
actin: 1852 nt, 570 kD
actin: 374 aa, 42 kD
5' cap
3' poly-A tail
5 nm
coding sequence (1128 nt)
3' UTR
filament
2 monomers per 5.4 nm
15.5 kD/nm
(A)
spindle
spindle
pole body microtubules pole body
chromosomes
5 µm
(B)
spindle pole body
microtubules
0.1 µm
(B)
normalized length distribution
(A)
2.0
distance from
spindle poles:
9 µm
17 µm
40 µm
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0
5
10
15
microtubule length (µm)
20
25
(A) lamellipodium
(B) filopodium
actin
200 nm
200 nm
virus
porcine circovirus
(PCV)
cowpea mosaic
virus (CPMV)
cowpea chlorotic
mottle virus (CCMV)
φX174 (E. coli
bacteriophage)
tobacco mosaic
virus (TMV)
polio virus
φ29 (Bacillus
phage)
lambda phage
T7 bacteriophage
adenovirus
(linear DNA)
influenza A
HIV-1
herpes simplex
virus 1
Epstein-Barr
virus (EBV)
mimivirus
pandora virus
size
(nm)
genome size
(nucleotides)
genome type,
capsid structure
BNID
circular ssDNA,
icosahedral
2 ssRNA molecules,
icosahedral
3 ssRNA molecules,
icosahedral
106467, 106468
103246, 106442
17
1760
28
9400
28
7900
32
5400
ssDNA, icosahedral
40 × 300
6400
ssRNA, rod shaped
30
7500
ssRNA, icosahedral
dsDNA,
icosahedral (T3)
dsDNA, icosahedral (with tail)
dsDNA, 55 genes,
icosahedral (T7)
106454, 106455
106456, 106457
104376, 104375,
106453
103114, 111324
109734
45 × 54
19,000
58
49,000
58
40,000
88–110
36,000
dsDNA, icosahedral
80–120
120–150
14,000
9700
ssRNA, roughly spherical
ssRNA, roughly spherical
103114, 103115,
106441
104073, 105768
101849, 105769
125
153,000
dsDNA, icosahedral
103114, 106458
140
170,000
dsDNA, icosahedral
103246, 111424
1,200,000
2,800,000
dsDNA, icosahedral
dsDNA, icosahedral
105142, 105143
109554, 109556
500
500 × 1000
103122, 105770
109732, 109733
generation
time (min)
dry mass
per cell (fg = 10–15g)
100
150
60
260
40
430
30
640
24
870
cell type
sperm cell
red blood cell
lymphocyte
neutrophil
beta cell
enterocyte
fibroblast
HeLa, cervix
hair cell (ear)
osteoblast
alveolar macrophage
cardiomyocyte
megakaryocyte
fat cell
oocyte
average
volume (μm3)
30
100
200
300
1000
1400
2000
3000
4000
4000
5000
15,000
30,000
600,000
4,000,000
BNID
109891, 109892
107600
111788
108241
109227
111216
108244
103725, 105879
108242
108088
103566
108243
110129
107668
101664
membrane type
plasma
rough ER
smooth ER
Golgi apparatus
mitochondria outer
mitochondria inner
nucleus inner
secretory vesicle
lysosome
peroxisome
endosome
percentage of total cell membrane
liver hepatocyte
2
35
16
7
7
32
0.2
—
0.4
0.4
0.4
pancreatic exocrine cell
5
60
<1
10
4
17
0.7
3
—
—
—
intracellular compartment
cytosol
mitochondria
rough ER cisternae
smooth ER cisternae plus Golgi cisternae
nucleus
peroxisomes
lysosomes
endosomes
percentage of
total cell volume
50–60
20
10
6
6
1
1
1
organism
H. sapiens
D. melanogaster
C. elegans
S. cerevisiae
A. thaliana
5 eukaryotes (above)
67 bacteria
15 archaea
median protein length
(amino acids)
375
373
344
379
356
361
267
247
functions
subunit
subunit weight
subunit size
protofilaments number
cross section area
filament diameter
helical repeat period
persistence length
filament length
actin
microtubules
cell motility, cytokinesis,
muscle contraction, hearing
actin monomer
≈40 kDa
5 nm
2
20 nm2
cell division, intracellular transport
6 nm
36 nm
10 μm
from 35 nm in erythrocyte cortex
to 10–100 μm in ear hair cells
α-tubulin + β-tubulin
≈50 kDa
4 nm (dimer)
13 (variable)
200 nm2
25 nm
8 nm
1–10 mm
from <1 μm in S. pombe through 100 μm
in rat neurons to >1 mm in insect sperm