Cytoskeleton (Unit 6) Flashcards
What do the following chemicals do?:
-Latrunculin
-CytochalasinB
-Phalloidin
-Taxol (Paclitaxel)
-Nocodazole
-Colchicine
-Binds actin subunits to depolymerize
-Caps filament + ends to depolymerize
-Phalloidin: Binds Actin filaments to stabilize
-Binds MT to stabilize
-Binds tubulin subunits to depolymerize
-Caps both ends of MT to depolymerize
What does Critical Concentration mean?
Subunit Concentration where monomeric subunits and the polymer are at equilibrium
Thus, rate of addition equals the rate of loss.
What is the axoneme?
The core of cillia and flagella
Contains:
-9 MT doublets in a circle that have dyenin arms
-2 MT singlets in the middle
-Associated proteins
When it bends, it creates movement
What are cillia and flagella made of?
MT and dynein
What is the difference in cillia and flagellar motion?
Flaggella: Undulating motion
Cilia: Whip-like motion
Where would you find cilia vs flagella?
Flagella: Protozoa, sperm (not the same as bacterial flagella)
Cilia: Protozoa, respiratory system & oviduct cell surfaces
Are cillia motile or non-motile?
Can be either
Compare the structures of cilia and flagella
Cilia is short and hairlike while flagella is long and thread-like
What roots cilia and flagella to the cell surface?
Basal Bodies
-sturcutre with 9 MT triplets like a centriole
What does Dynein do in the axoneme?
Forms bridges between doublets on the outer circumenference
Moves towards - end once activated which (instead of having the MTs slide past eachother) creates a bend due to the tubules between cross-linked
Why would a cell want to move?
Immune cells must find bacteria infection
Nervous system cells need to form neural network during development
Chemotaxins direct cells based on chemical gradient
Amoeba need to eat
Cancer Cells
Why is cell movement unidirectional?
Driven by actin which treadmills in one direction due to coflin dissembly at ADP g-actins
What regulates actin by helping us determine the front vs back of a cell?
Cell surface receptors
What do cell surface receptors work through to control actin
The Rho Protein Family
-Rho
-Rac
-Cdc42
What do Rho, Rac and Cdc 42 do?
Rho: Bundles actin and myosin II to make stress fibers and brings integrin to focal contacts
Rac: Creates lamellipodia around the cell circumference
Cdc42: Nucleates actin at the + end to make lots of filopodeia
What are the steps of Cell movement?
Protrusion:
Bits of PM pushed outwards and filled by filamentous actin (contains no membrane-bound organelles)
Attachment:
Focal Adhesions (where integrin links cell to ECM)
*Form at the front and disengage at the back
Traction:
Myosin contracts to pull actin to new orientation
What is the cytoskeleton?
What does it do?
A network of filamentous proteins involved in the shape, strength and movement of the cell(SSM)
What do accesory cytoskelton proteins do?
-Act as motors
-Help assembly/dissembly
-regulate connections
What are the 3 main cytoskleton proteins
Actin: Shape and movement
MT: Intracellular movement (Transport, organelle positioning + mitotic spindle during cytokenesis)
IF: Mechanical Strength
What is meant by filament polarity?
The two ends act differently
Tends to polymerize at + end (where mostly likley T form) and depolymerize at - end (where most likely D form)
How does polarity work in actin
Actin monomers all face the same direction thus te filament will always have a plus and minus end
These ends have different kon/koff ratios such that the plus end will always polymerize faster than the minus end
This means that both ends have different Critical concentrations
*Note: If in same T/D state both ends still have the same monomer affinity they just have different kinetics !
why does treadmilling happen in actin?
If the [subunit] is above the Cc for the + end (such that it has net growth) but below the Cc for the minus end (such that it shrinks) then there will be an overall steady state where loss = gain
This requires ATP so that the difference in polymerization speed is great enough between the ends (ATP makes polymerization go way faster)
What is the subunit for actin?
A monomer called G-actin (globular actin) which binds ATP
What is the full structure of actin?
G-actin polymerize to F-actin
2 F-actins polymerize to right-handed helix to make actin molecule
What is the difference in structure between + and - actin?
Plus end is barbed
Minus end is pointed
How strong is actin
it is a flexible molecule whose rigidity can be INC by accessory proteins
where on actin does ATP bind?
minus end
what is the point of actin nucleation?
When there is only a small number of monomers are bound to each other, their a few bonds and so the molecule is unstable and there is a (lag phase- it will literally take forever)
Nucleation helps us by-pass the kinetic barrier by helping us to reach the critical # of monomers required for filament formation
In vivo, what form will most G-actin be in?
T form!
Why is delta G the same for both ends of actin?
Because the same interaction is being broken/formed
Why is the + end of actin more likely to be in T form than the - end?
Because its polymerization is faster, it can catch-up to and go faster than ATP hydrolysis unlike at the minus end (hence why both ends have different critical concentrations)
What if polyermization and hydrolysis rates are around the same for a filament?
Dynamic instability!
(the rapid conversion between growth and shrinking at the same subunit concentration)
Involves catastrophe (Hydrolysis wins -> rapid deplymerization)
and rescue (ATP added -> rapid polymerization)
Why does growth happen with T subunits and shrinkage with D ones?
The end with T on it is more likely to be the faster-growing + plus.
Also ATP-bound G-actins are better at polymerizing.
Thus:
Growth: Growth outruns hydrolysis
Shrinkage: Hydrolysis outruns growth
What are the main structures involved in cell crawling?
Filopodium: Long and thin 1D bundled actin
Lamellipodium: Wide 2D sheet of cross-linked actin in a mesh that remains stationary with respect to the substrate. + ends point in migration direction while - ends attatch to other actin filaments via ARP
Invadopodium (podosome): Large 3D blob. Helps with crossing tissue barriers
Bleb: Actin-populated extension of PM that is detached from the cortex
How does Cdc42 work?
When bound to GTP it is active and can associate with WASp proteins.
These proteins bind and enhance Arp 2/3 complexes which then enhance actin nucleation activity
Why do we use keratocytes as a cell crawling model?
Their movement is locally regualted (thus even a sliced off fragement can keep crawling) and very fast.
They have a large, lamellipodium with a small trailing cell body
What are keratocytes?
Epithelial cells from the epidermis of frog and fish that are specialized for wound healing and contain a lot of keratin
What are septins?
GTPbinding proteins used to create cell polarity
They asseble into NP filaments that then create rings and cage-like structures for :
-membrane compartmentalization
-recruitment and activation of MTs and actin
Involved in:
trafficking (vesicles), cell migration and cell division