Cytoskeleton Flashcards
Principle protein of microfilaments and microtubules
actin and tubulin respectively
Microfilaments are typically located as:
filament netwrok under plasma membrane, contractile bundle, and parallel bundles (stress fiber and cores for microvilli and stereocillia)
Microfilament structure
double helical arrangement of actin molecules
G-actin
unpolymerized
f-actin
polimerized, polar
Actin Polymerization
requires ATP and depends on local concentration of G-actin and other actin binding proteins… done as necessary for cell fxn
G/F actin ratio
always in equilibrium
“Treadmilling”
New molecules add preferentially to (+) end filament, others lost at (-) end = continuous flow actin from (+) end
to (-) end
How is actin arranged in the cell?
As a loose meshwork of crosslinked filaments typically found immediatelyunder and attached to the
plasma membrane. As bundles of parallel
filaments crosslinked by proteins such as fimbrin or villin
What is the crosslinking protein often associated with actin filaments specificlly in lood meshwork of crosslinked filaments
filamin
Microvilli
Microvilli are finger-like projections of the surface of some cells such as intestinal epithelial cells & have a core composed of a bundle of parallel
microfilaments
Cytochalasins B and D
These drugs bind (+) end of microfilament &
block addition of new actin molecules
Phalloidin
This drug stabilizes microfilament structure &
prevents depolymerization. Thus blocks cell activities requiring
reversible polymerization & depolymerization
Composition of microtubules
composed of tubulin a and B dimers, bind microtubule associated proteins
What molecule begins polymerization in microtubules
y-tubulin