TY - JOUR AB - Living cells are hugely complex chemical systems composed of a milieu of distinct chemical species (including DNA, proteins, lipids, and metabolites) interconnected with one another through a vast web of interactions: this complexity renders the study of cell biology in a quantitative and systematic manner a difficult task. There has been an increasing drive towards the utilization of artificial cells as cell mimics to alleviate this, a development that has been aided by recent advances in artificial cell construction. Cell mimics are simplified cell-like structures, composed from the bottom-up with precisely defined and tunable compositions. They allow specific facets of cell biology to be studied in isolation, in a simplified environment where control of variables can be achieved without interference from a living and responsive cell. This mini-review outlines the core principles of this approach and surveys recent key investigations that use cell mimics to address a wide range of biological questions. It will also place the field in the context of emerging trends, discuss the associated limitations, and outline future directions of the field. AU - Salehi-Reyhani,A AU - Ces,O AU - Elani,Y DO - 10.1177/1535370217711441 EP - 1317 PY - 2017/// SN - 1535-3702 SP - 1309 TI - Artificial cell mimics as simplified models for the study of cell biology T2 - Experimental Biology and Medicine UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1535370217711441 UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/48385 VL - 242 ER -