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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 .
Tau proteins stabilize microtubules, and thus shift the reaction kinetics in favor of addition of new subunits, accelerating microtubule growth. Tau has the additional function of facilitating bundling of microtubules within the nerve cell. The function of tau has been linked to the neurological condition Alzheimer's disease.
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.
Microtubules function in many essential cellular processes, including mitosis. Tubulin-binding drugs kill cancerous cells by inhibiting microtubule dynamics, which are required for DNA segregation and therefore cell division. [citation needed] In eukaryotes, there are six members of the tubulin superfamily, although not all are present in all ...
In cell biology, the spindle apparatus is the cytoskeletal structure of eukaryotic cells that forms during cell division to separate sister chromatids between daughter cells. It is referred to as the mitotic spindle during mitosis , a process that produces genetically identical daughter cells, or the meiotic spindle during meiosis , a process ...
The axoneme structure in non-motile primary cilia is of an outer nine microtubule doublets with no central microtubule singlets, and no dynein arms on the outer doublets. This arrangement is known as the 9+0 axoneme. Primary cilia appear to serve sensory functions.
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.