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 ...
Eukaryotic cells contain three main kinds of cytoskeletal filaments: microfilaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments. In neurons the intermediate filaments are known as neurofilaments. [16] Each type is formed by the polymerization of a distinct type of protein subunit and has its own characteristic shape and intracellular distribution.
Type 1 and 2 intermediate filaments are those that are composed of keratins, and they are mainly found in epithelial cells. Type 3 intermediate filaments contain vimentin. They can be found in a variety of cells which include smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, and white blood cells. Type 4 intermediate filaments are the neurofilaments found in ...
Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a protein that is encoded by the GFAP gene in humans. [5] It is a type III intermediate filament (IF) protein that is expressed by numerous cell types of the central nervous system (CNS), including astrocytes [6] and ependymal cells during development. [7]
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 .
The type VI intermediate filament protein Nestin is expressed in developing neurons and glia. Nestin is considered a marker of neuronal stem cells, and the presence of this protein is widely used to define neurogenesis. This protein is lost as development proceeds. Neurofilament antibodies are also commonly used in diagnostic neuropathology.
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 ...
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.