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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]
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.
Developing wood cells in poplar showing microfilaments (in green) and cell nuclei (in red) In biology, a protein filament is a long chain of protein monomers, such as those found in hair, muscle, or in flagella. [1] Protein filaments form together to make the cytoskeleton of the cell. They are often bundled together to provide support, strength ...
Microfilament functions include cytokinesis, amoeboid movement, cell motility, changes in cell shape, endocytosis and exocytosis, cell contractility, and mechanical stability. Microfilaments are flexible and relatively strong, resisting buckling by multi-piconewton compressive forces and filament fracture by nanonewton tensile forces.
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]
In cell biology, microtubule nucleation is the event that initiates de novo formation of microtubules (MTs). These filaments of the cytoskeleton typically form through polymerization of α- and β-tubulin dimers, the basic building blocks of the microtubule, which initially interact to nucleate a seed from which the filament elongates.
[1] [2] [3] In most eukaryotic cells lacking a cell wall, the cortex is an actin-rich network consisting of F-actin filaments, myosin motors, and actin-binding proteins. [4] [5] The actomyosin cortex is attached to the cell membrane via membrane-anchoring proteins called ERM proteins that plays a central role in cell shape control.
The building-block of the axoneme is the microtubule; each axoneme is composed of several microtubules aligned in a characteristic pattern known as the 9+2 axoneme as shown in the image at right. Nine sets of doublet microtubules (a specialized structure consisting of two linked microtubules) form a ring around a central pair of single ...