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Microtubule and tubulin metrics [1]. Microtubules are polymers of tubulin that form part of the cytoskeleton and provide structure and shape to eukaryotic cells. Microtubules can be as long as 50 micrometres, as wide as 23 to 27 nm [2] and have an inner diameter between 11 and 15 nm. [3]
The microtubule-organizing center (MTOC) is a structure found in eukaryotic cells from which microtubules emerge. MTOCs have two main functions: the organization of eukaryotic flagella and cilia and the organization of the mitotic and meiotic spindle apparatus, which separate the chromosomes during cell division.
Animal cells (and some filamentous fungi are thought to rely upon the microtubule cytoskeleton and associated motor proteins. [ citation needed ] Although plants, algae and fungi transport depends on myosins , which move along the actin cytoskeleton, certain organelles can move along microtubules in plant cells.
The cytoskeleton consists of (a) microtubules, (b) microfilaments, and (c) intermediate filaments. [1]The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all cells, including those of bacteria and archaea. [2]
In cell biology, the centrosome (Latin centrum 'center' + Greek sōma 'body') (archaically cytocentre [1]) is an organelle that serves as the main microtubule organizing center (MTOC) of the animal cell, as well as a regulator of cell-cycle progression. The centrosome provides structure for the cell.
Astral microtubules anchor the spindle poles to the cell membrane. Microtubule polymerization is nucleated at the microtubule organizing center. An aster is a cellular structure shaped like a star, consisting of a centrosome and its associated microtubules during the early stages of mitosis in an animal cell.
In cell biology, microtubule nucleation is the event that initiates de novo formation of microtubules (MTs). These filaments of the cytoskeleton typically form through polymerization of α- and β-tubulin dimers, the basic building blocks of the microtubule, which initially interact to nucleate a seed from which the filament elongates.
Initiation of the centrosome cycle occurs early in the cell cycle in order to have two centrosomes by the time mitosis occurs. Since the centrosome organizes the microtubules of a cell, it has to do with the formation of the mitotic spindle, polarity and, therefore, cell shape, as well as all other processes having to do with the mitotic ...