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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]
Inside a cilium and a flagellum is a microtubule-based cytoskeleton called the axoneme. The axoneme of a primary cilium typically has a ring of nine outer microtubule doublets (called a 9+0 axoneme), and the axoneme of a motile cilium has two central microtubules in addition to the nine outer doublets (called a 9+2 axoneme).
Animal cells (and some filamentous fungi are thought to rely upon the microtubule cytoskeleton and associated motor proteins. Although plants, algae and fungi transport depends on myosins , which move along the actin cytoskeleton, certain organelles can move along microtubules in plant cells.
γ-tubulin also has been isolated as a dimer and as a part of a γ-tubulin small complex (γTuSC), intermediate in size between the dimer and the γTuRC. γ-tubulin is the best understood mechanism of microtubule nucleation, but certain studies have indicated that certain cells may be able to adapt to its absence, as indicated by mutation and ...
In cell biology, microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) are proteins that interact with the microtubules of the cellular cytoskeleton. MAPs are integral to the stability of the cell and its internal structures and the transport of components within the cell.
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 .
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.
The model proposes that an increase in microtubule growth will correlate with a decrease in random catastrophe frequency or vice versa. The discovery of microtubule-associated proteins that change the rate of catastrophe while not impacting the rate of microtubule growth challenges this model of stochastic growth and shrinkage. [5]