The Cytoskeleton Flashcards

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1
Q

How were organelles originally believed to be found?

A

Floating freely in the cytosol.

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2
Q

What did we found out through microscopy about cell structure?

A

Cells have a cytoskeleton - fibres extending throughout the cell.

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3
Q

What does cyto mean?

A

Cell.

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4
Q

What is the cytoskeleton?

A

A network of microtubules, microfilaments, and intermediate filaments that extend throughout the cytoplasm and serve a variety of mechanical, transport, and signaling functions.

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5
Q

What 3 types of fibres make up the cytoskeleton?

A

Microtubules, microfilaments and intermediate filaments.

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6
Q

What are the roles of the cytoskeleton?

A

Physical support.
Motility.
Cell Regulation.

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7
Q

What does physical support entail?

A

Provides mechanical support (shape and rigidity) to cells.
Anchors organelles, structure and some proteins in their correct cellular locations.

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8
Q

Is cytoskeleton support static?

A

No, it’s dynamic. This means cell structure/shape can be changed.

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9
Q

What cell movement is the cytoskeleton involved in? (2 levels)

A

Movement of the whole cell across a substrate.
Parts of the cell move.

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10
Q

What is an example of a cell moving across a substrate?

A

A white blood cell “chasing” bacteria.

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11
Q

What does motility require?

A

The interaction of the cytoskeleton with motor proteins - regulators of motility.

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12
Q

How do motor proteins function?

A

They couple energy of ATP (/GTP) hydrolysis to movement.

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13
Q

What do motor proteins allow?

A

Whole cell movement along extracellular substrates.
The movement of organelles.

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14
Q

What do motor proteins do?

A

They stimulate the movement of cilia and flagella by “gripping” microtubules and moving them relative to each other.

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15
Q

What are motor proteins important in? (Examples)

A

Movement of microfilaments and muscle contraction.

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16
Q

How does the cytoskeleton allow organelle movement in the cell?

A

Vesicles attach to cytoskeletal “rails” to move from point A to point B.

17
Q

Organelle movement example?

A

Neurotransmitters containing synaptic vesicles are made in the cell body but travel down the axons of nerve cells.

18
Q

How are vesicles powered to “walk” along microtubules?

A

By nucleotide hydrolysis e.g. ATP.

19
Q

What allows study of organelle movement?

A

Addition of drugs that inhibit or promote actin polymerisation.

20
Q

What does the cytoskeleton allow communication between?

A

The cell and its environment.

21
Q

What may the cytoskeleton do in response to the cell’s environment?

A

Change cell function/physiology.

22
Q

How does the cytoskeleton respond to the extracellular environment?

A

Receptors on the plasma membrane pick up extracellular signals.

23
Q

What are some extracellular signal examples?

A

Hormones, signals from other cells/the extracellular matrix.