Microtubules composition

Role of the Cytoskeleton in Cell Division Formation of the Mitotic Spindle, Mitosis, and Cytokinesis Drug Effects on Microtubules Mlcrofllaments Actin Filaments Structure and Composition... 

Electron microscopy reveals several types of protein filaments crisscrossing the eukaryotic cell, forming an interlocking three-dimensional meshwork, the cytoskeleton. There are three general types of cytoplasmic filaments— actin filaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments (Fig. 1-9)—differing in width (from about 6 to 22 nm), composition, and specific function. All types provide structure and organization to the cytoplasm and shape to the cell. Actin filaments and microtubules also help to produce the motion of organelles or of the whole cell. 

Eukaryotic cells have an internal scaffolding called the cytoskeleton or cytomatrix that maintains their cellular morphology and enables them to migrate, undergo shape changes, and transport vesicles. Microfilaments, made of actin, intermediate filaments, which are composed of laminin and other proteins, and microtubules, formed from the protein tubulin, along with many different accessory proteins, comprise the cytoskeleton. Both the microfilaments and the microtubules can assemble and disassemble rapidly in the cell, whereas disassembly of intermediate filaments may require their destruction. Although much is known about the molecular composition of the cytoskeleton, the molecular events involved in most cell movements are still unknown. 

Understand the composition, structure, and function of microfilaments and microtubules. 

Eukaryotes have various DNA molecules, arranged in linear fibers which are repeatedly coiled and folded to produce highly organised chromosomes, and a composite cytoplasm which is divided into distinct compartments and houses a variety of cell organelles (mitochondria, chloroplasts, lysosomes, the endoplasmic reticulum, etc.) the form of the cell is due to an internal cytoskeleton which is made of three different types of filaments (microtubules, microfilaments and intermediate filaments). 

The cytoplasmic channels or paranodal loops at the lateral end of the internode are a major site of myelin-axon adhesion. The membrane of the inner or adaxonal surface of the myelin sheath is in direct contact with the axons. Their cytoplasmic channels may transmit axonal signals that regulate myelin formation and help determine the length and thickness of the myelin internode. These channels contain microtubules and other cytoskeletal components for transport and stability and mitochondria for energy. Also, in some areas, they contain smooth endoplasmic reticulum and free polysomes for the synthesis of local membrane components. In addition, membranes of noncompact myelin serve special functions that are reflected by unique molecular composition. 

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The q toskeleton of eukaryotic cells is generally considered to be a meshwork of protein filaments that spans the space between the nucleus and the plasma membrane. In many cell types, the three-dimensional (3D) composite network of actin filaments, microtubules (MTs), and intermediate filaments (IPs) in the cytoplasm interfaces with two-dimensional networks composed largely of spectrins that line the plasma membrane and nuclear lamins that line the inner surface of the nuclear membrane. A few eukaryotic cell types contain an entirely different cytoskeleton that powers their locomotion and which is constmcted from the cationic major sperm protein instead of actin. The three cytoskeletal proteins, acdn, tubulin, and IF subunits, constitute a significant fraction of... 

LBL assembly also been extended to construct freestanding nanostructures by controllable assembling nanoparticles. Freely suspended flexible LBL structures with different shapes, compositions, and properties can be fabricated by using sacrificial substrates (planar, spherical, and cylindrical). Depending upon the fabrication procedure, freestanding LBL microcapsules, microtubules, microcubes, microcantilevers, and planar films can be obtained as shown in Fig. 8. 

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