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Microfilaments are usually about 7 nm in diameter and made up of two strands of actin. 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 ...
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]
Motor proteins utilizing the cytoskeleton for movement fall into two categories based on their substrate: microfilaments or microtubules. Actin motors such as myosin move along microfilaments through interaction with actin, and microtubule motors such as dynein and kinesin move along microtubules through interaction with tubulin.
Microfilaments can either occur in the monomeric G-actin or filamentous F-actin. [2] Microfilaments are important when it comes to the overall organization of the plasma membrane. Actin filaments are considered to be both helical and flexible. They are composed of several actin monomers chained together which add to their flexibility.
Microfilaments are polymers of the protein actin and are 7 nm in diameter. Microtubules are composed of tubulin and are 25 nm in diameter. Intermediate filaments are composed of various proteins, depending on the type of cell in which they are found; they are normally 8-12 nm in diameter. [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]
In neuronal axons, the actin or spectric cytoskeleton forms an array of periodic rings [10] and in the sperm flagellum it forms a helical structure. [11] In plant cells, the cell cortex is reinforced by cortical microtubules underlying the plasma membrane. The direction of these cortical microtubules determines which way the cell elongates when ...
Microtubules function as tracks in the intracellular transport of membrane-bound vesicles and organelles. This process is propelled by motor proteins such as dynein. Motor proteins connect the transport vesicles to microtubules and actin filaments to facilitate intracellular movement. [1]