Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Intermediate filaments (IFs) are cytoskeletal structural components found in the cells of vertebrates, and many invertebrates. [1] [2] [3] Homologues of the IF protein have been noted in an invertebrate, the cephalochordate Branchiostoma. [4] Intermediate filaments are composed of a family of related proteins sharing common structural and ...
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]
An example of an intermediate filament is a Neurofilament. They provide support for the structure of the axon and are a major part of the cytoskeleton. Intermediate filaments contain an average diameter of 10 nm, which is smaller than that of microtubules, but larger than that of microfilaments. [4]
The term cytokeratin began to be used in the late 1970s, when the protein subunits of keratin intermediate filaments inside cells were first being identified and characterized. [2] In 2006 a new systematic nomenclature for mammalian keratins was created, and the proteins previously called cytokeratins are simply called keratins (human ...
Plectin is a giant protein found in nearly all mammalian cells which acts as a link between the three main components of the cytoskeleton: actin microfilaments, microtubules and intermediate filaments. [5] In addition, plectin links the cytoskeleton to junctions found in the plasma membrane that structurally connect
Vimentin is a type III intermediate filament (IF) protein that is expressed in mesenchymal cells. IF proteins are found in all animal cells [ 6 ] as well as bacteria . [ 7 ] Intermediate filaments, along with tubulin -based microtubules and actin -based microfilaments , comprises the cytoskeleton .
Crescentin is a protein which is a bacterial relative of the intermediate filaments found in eukaryotic cells.Just as tubulins and actins, the other major cytoskeletal proteins, have prokaryotic homologs in, respectively, the FtsZ and MreB proteins, intermediate filaments are linked to the crescentin protein.
Hemidesmosomes form rivet-like links between cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix components such as the basal laminae that underlie epithelia. Like desmosomes, they tie to intermediate filaments in the cytoplasm, but in contrast to desmosomes, their transmembrane anchors are integrins rather than cadherins. [8]