BCMB 311 Final: BCMB 311 Final Study Guide

• School: UTK
• Department: Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology
• Course: BCMB 311
• Professor: Parks, Bruce

Document Summary

Intermediate filaments have great tensile strength, and their main function is to enable cells to withstand the mechanical stress that occurs when cells are stretched. Smooth muscle cells where they were first discovered, their diam- eter (about 10 nm) is between that of the thin actin-containing filaments and the thicker myosin filaments. The toughest and most durable of the three types of cytoskeletal filaments. Often anchored to the plasma membrane at cell cell junctions such as desmosomes. Found within the nucleus; nuclear lamina, underlies and strengthens the nuclear envelope in all eucaryotic cells. Composed of an n-terminal globular head, a c-terminal globular tail, and a central elongated rod domain. Rod domain consists of an extended -helical region that enables pairs of intermediate filament proteins to form stable dimers by wrapping around each other in a coiled-coil configuration. Dimers then associate by noncovalent bonding to form a tetramer.