Figure 1

Mesoscale lengths in context. The self-organised structures considered in the workshop are mesoscale structures. We define mesoscales as length-scales larger than discrete molecular complexes yet remaining intracellular. These limits are bounded below by ribosomal diameters (25 nm) as the molecular scale, and above by typical model cell diameters. For E. coli, this is approximately 1 μm, while for human cells it is of order 10 μm. Unusually large cell diameters such as neurons (100 μm) and amphibian oocytes (1 mm) mean the upper limit will depend on the cell.