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The cytoskeleton was once thought to be a feature only of eukaryotic cells, but homologues to all the major proteins of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton have been found in prokaryotes. [41] Harold Erickson notes that before 1992, only eukaryotes were believed to have cytoskeleton components.
Cytoskeletal drugs are small molecules that interact with actin or tubulin.These drugs can act on the cytoskeletal components within a cell in three main ways. Some cytoskeletal drugs stabilize a component of the cytoskeleton, such as taxol, which stabilizes microtubules, or Phalloidin, which stabilizes actin filaments.
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 ...
Compared to the other parts of the cytoskeletons, the microfilaments contain the thinnest filaments, with a diameter of approximately 7 nm. Microfilaments are part of the cytoskeleton that are composed of protein called actin. Two strands of actin intertwined together form a filamentous structure allowing for the movement of motor proteins.
The eukaryotic cytoskeleton is composed of microtubules, intermediate filaments and microfilaments. In the cytoskeleton of a neuron the intermediate filaments are known as neurofilaments. There are a great number of proteins associated with them, each controlling a cell's structure by directing, bundling, and aligning filaments. [2]
While cellular processes can be supported by any of the three major components of the cytoskeleton—microfilaments (actin filaments), intermediate filaments (IFs), or microtubules—, lamellipodia are primarily driven by the polymerization of actin microfilaments, not microtubules. [3] [20]
The cytoskeleton formed by microtubules is essential to the morphogenetic process of an organism's development. For example, a network of polarized microtubules is required within the oocyte of Drosophila melanogaster during its embryogenesis in order to establish the axis of the egg.
The prokaryotic cytoskeleton is the collective name for all structural filaments in prokaryotes. [2] Some of these proteins are analogues of those in eukaryotes , while others are unique to prokaryotes.