TBL 3 Cytoskeleton Flashcards
3 types of filaments form the cytoskeleton of the cell.
Actin filaments; intermediate filaments and microtubules
Microtubules are made up of _______.
tubulin
Microfilaments are made up of _______, ______ and ________.
actin, troponin and tropomyosin
The synthesis of filaments occurs via the _________ of subunits.
polymerisation
The _________ provides and defines the shape of the cell, which confers cell motility.
cytoskeleton
Free monomer molecule must be in ________ with the polymer (formed filaments).
equilibrium
Intermediate filaments are stable and durable filaments with a diameter of __ to __ nm.
8 to 12 nm
intermediate in size compared to thin filaments and microtubules
________ filaments form the most insoluble part of the cell.
Intermediate filaments
Intermediate filaments are very developed in cells which need to withstand mechanical stress.
E.g. epithelia
There are __ main types of intermediate filaments.
5
Types I and II intermediate filaments (e.g. ______) are found in _______ cells.
These confer resilience and mechanical strength by making cytoplasmic networks throughout the cell.
Keratin
Found in epithelial cells
Type ___ intermediate filaments include Vimentin, desmin, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and peripherin.
These may form homo or heteropolymeric proteins.
Type III
________ (intermediate filament) is found in fibroblasts, endothelial cells and leukocytes.
It functions to support cellular membranes, keep organelles in a fixed location and transmit membrane receptor signals to the nucleus.
Vimentin (Type III intermediate filament)
________ (intermediate filament) is found as part of the desmosomes linking cells like cardiac and skeletal muscle fibres together.
Desmin (Type III intermediate filament)
[recall: desmosomes are intracellular junctions that provide strong adhesion between cells]
_________ (intermediate filament) is found in astrocytes and other glial cells.
It functions to maintain astrocyte mechanical strength in CNS and is important in repair and formation of glial scars after CNS injury.
Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) [Type III intermediate filament]
_______ (intermediate filament) is found in peripheral nerve fibres.
Peripherin (Type III intermediate filament)
Type IV intermediate filaments include __________ which are mainly found in axonal cells, internexins, filensin and phakinin which are mainly found in the ________.
neurofilaments H, M and L (mainly found in axonal cells)
internexins, filensins and phakinins are mainly found in the lens fibres of the eye.
Type V intermediate filaments include ______, which possess nuclear signal sequences to form filamentous support inside the inner nuclear membrane. It is vital for the reformation of the nuclear envelope after cell division, and therefore helps to protect the DNA.
Lamins
recall nuclear lamina
In intermediate filaments, different types of cells have (different/the same) monomer(s).
different monomer proteins
(different types of intermediate filaments
e.g. keratin in epithelial cells; vimentin in leukocytes, etc.)
A typical intermediate filament subunit has a -COOH end and -NH end (protein), with various ________ regions separated by spacer regions.
a-helical regions separated by spacer regions
Intermediate filaments begin forming via _______ assembly of monomers into ______.
The a-helical regions from two subunits wind together to form a parallel coiled-coil.
Parallel assembly of monomers into dimers
one end has two amino ends, the other has two carboxyl ends
Formation of intermediate filaments:
After formation of parallel dimer, 2 of these dimers bind to each other side-by-side to form a staggered (anti-parallel/parallel) tetramer.
anti-parallel tetramer
Why do intermediate filament polymers not have any polarity?
Parallel dimers –> Anti-parallel tetramers (Dimers are oriented in opposite ways, so each end of the tetramer has both COOH and NH ends –> no polarity)
4 tetramers are then elongated from end to end to form protofilaments, which also have no polarity due to the side-by-side assembly.
Formation of intermediate filament:
Parallel dimer –> Anti-parallel ______ –> _________ (4 tetramers)
Parallel dimer —> Anti-parallel tetramers —> Protofilaments (4 tetramers)
There are two types of tubulin molecules () which make up __________.
a-tubulin and B-tubulin (make up microtubules)
Microtubules are hollow cylinders with circumference made of a ring of ___ tubulin monomers.
13 tubulin monomers
__-tubulin is found only in centrosomes, acting as nucleating sites for microtubule assembly.
y-tubulin (centrosomes)
Microtubule polymerisation occurs in two phases:
_______ and _______.
nucleation and elongation
_________: when an a and B tubulin molecule join to form a heterodimer (aB)
Nucleation
__-tubulin is at the plus end where polymerisation is favoured; whereas __-tubulin is at the minus end.
B-tubulin: plus end;
a-tubulin: minus end
Tubulin subunits are added to (GTP/GDP)-capped microtubules more efficiently.
GTP-capped microtubules
After polymerisation, the GTP bound to tubulin is slowly hydrolysed to GDP.
-
The switch between filament growth (polymerisation) and depolymerisation is __________.
dynamic instability
In interphase cells, _____ ends of the microtubules become capped by the centrosome.
minus ends
During ______ of mitosis, the tubulin subunits are added to the ‘plus’ end of the kinetochore microtubules and removed from the ‘minus’ end at the spindle pole. => microtubules maintain a constant length.
Metaphase
_________ refers to the growth of microtubule at one end, with depolymerisation at the other end.
Treadmilling
The polymerisation and depolymerisation of microtubules is controlled by ___.
They bind to microtubules to stabilise, cross-link and attach them to other cellular components.
MAPs (microtubule-associated proteins)
______ are motor proteins that move towards the periphery i.e. anterograde.
Kinesins
_______ are motor proteins that move towards the centre i.e. retrograde.
Dyenins/Ncd
____ protein results in plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
Tau protein
Both cilia and flagella are composed of ________, which are thus important in locomotion.
microtubules
Centrosome consists of:
2 centrioles arranged at right angles to each other, from which 9 triplets of microtubules radiate
Cilia is made up of 9 doublets of microtubules and 2 in the centre (forming the ______), with (protein) associated with it, where its movement causes oscillation that travels down the cilium to provide force)
9 doublets and 2 in the centre: axoneme
associated with dyenin proteins
Actin exists in two forms:
G-actin (globular actin monomers) and F-actin (filamentous actin filaments)
The actin filament system is made up of the polymerisation of ______ (monomer).
G-actin (globular)
_____ is involved in cell surface shape changes including those which lead to cell migration.
Actin filaments
Actin filaments are able to form bundles known as ______, which are cables of actin found in fibroblasts and other cells where cell-to-cell adhesion is important.
stress fibres
Polymerisation of actin occurs in 2 steps:
1) _________: A high concentration of ATP-actin monomers would allow for the formation of _____ of ATP-actin.
2) _______: subsequent addition of actin monomers to the trimer
1) Nucleation: Formation of trimers of ATP-actin
2) Elongation
The F-filament has two ends.
Barbed ends (for elongation)
Pointed ends
______ motors require protein rails (usually cytoskeletal filaments) along which they can move, and are predominantly responsible for the motile activity in eukaryotic cells (cytoskeletal motors).
Linear motors
There are three families of linear motors:
1) Kinesin (microtubules)
2) Dyenin (microtubules)
3) Myosin (actin)
Other special molecular motors like helicases and topoisomerases move along DNA or RNA (nucleic acid motors).
_______ motors are complex multi-protein assemblies which require stators (static portion) for their action.
Rotary motors
embedded in the membranes of organelles
Movement of cells driven by molecular motors requires the generation of __________ force.
mechanical force
_________ is the movement of cells along a chemical gradient from a region of low concentration to the region of highest concentration in response to a chemical stimuli.
Chemotaxis
______ moves towards the minus end of the microtubule; whereas ________ moves towards the plus end.
Dynein - towards minus end
Kinesin - towards plus end
Some linear motors rely on __________ for their movement instead of moving along the rails. These are known as polymerisation motors.
filament polymerisation
e.g. actin polymerisation generates force which can be used for propulsion of entire cells with the hydrolysis of ATP
(Type of tissue) is rich in ECM, with a much sparser cellular component.
connective tissue (very few cells but a lot of ECM)
=> ECM carries mechanical load in connective tissues.
The ____________ is a complex network of proteins and carbohydrates secreted by cells to fill intercellular spaces, and comprises both fibrillar and non-fibrillar components.
Extracellular matrix (ECM)
4 components of connective tissues:
- Cellular component
- Collagens
- Glycoproteins
- Proteoglycans
Each collagen molecule comprises of 3 a-chains that form a _______, and can be composed of one or more different types of a-chains.
triple helix