Biology 2382B Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Centriole, Axoneme, Tubulin
28 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
The cytoskeleton is an intricate network of protein filaments that extend throughout the cytoplasm. It helps with achieving cellular movement such as cellular trafficking of organelles (e. g. anterograde transport, endocytosis, etc. ) and cell migration. Microtubules (25 nm) > intermediate filaments (10 nm) > microfilaments/actin (7-9 nm) The roles of the cytoskeleton includes: organelle/protein trafficking, cilia/flagella, mitosis/cytokinesis, muscle contraction, cell adhesion, cell migration, extravasation. Keep in mind that although a diagram only depicts the microtubules, there are still things like other organelles and cytoplasm present. Also the polymers can be very long (up to 100 micrometer; usually the flagella). Microtubules organize the interior of the cell. Those axons are still made of cytoplasmic microtubules. The basic subunit of tubulin are dimers. These dimers are made up of one monomer and one monomer, which gives rise to a polarized dimer meaning that each side is different (i. e. made of different subunits). The and monomers are 55 kda each.
