Cytoskeleton

A network of fibers extending throughout the cytoplasm

Composed of proteins
 Cytoskeleton
Present in most cells of all domains of life
Tubulin-related bacterial protein FtsZ
Actin-related bacterial proteins MreB and Mbl
are present in bacteria.

Genes coding for MreB and Mbl could only be

found in elongated bacteria, not in coccoid
forms.
FtsZ: Filamenting temperature-sensitive mutant Z
 Functions
Gives the cell shape and mechanical resistance to
deformation

Migration of cells

Uptake of extracellular material (endocytosis)

Segregation of chromosomes during cellular

division

Cytokinesis
 Functions

Muscle contraction

Forms structures such as flagella, cilia, pseudopodia

Dynamic, Dismantles at one spot and reassembles at

another to change cell shape
Involved in many cell signaling pathways
Provides a scaffolding (staging)
Components of Cytoskeleton

 Microtubules

 Microfilaments

 Intermediate filaments
 Microtubules
A hollow cylinder Made of tubulin

25 nm in diameter with 15 nm lumen

α, β Tubulin heterodimer, the basic structural
unit of microtubules

α β

GTP GTP

tubulin
heterodimer

Protofilament, A filament of polymerized tubulin in a cell,

which becomes part of a microtubul
The attached end is called the minus end; the other end is
the plus end.

centrosome

astral
microtubule

polar chromosomal
microtubule microtubule

grow at the plus end by the polymerization of tubulin

dimers (powered by the hydrolysis of GTP), and

shrink by the release of tubulin dimers

(depolymerization) at the same end.
 Effect of Toxins & Drugs on polymerization
 Taxol, an anti-cancer drug, stabilizes microtubules.

 Colchicine binds tubulin & blocks polymerization.

 Vinblastine and Nocodazole cause depolymerization

Proteins that promote microtubule disassembly

 Stathmin, a microtubule destabilizing protein that

increases in abundance in some cancer cells.

 Katanin severs microtubules.

 Functions
 Maintenance of cell shape

 Cell motility (cilia and flagella)

 Chromosomal movement, cell division

 Organelles movement
Maintenance of cell shape
Microtubules are the central structural supports in cilia
and flagella.

Cilia and flagella have a core of microtubules sheathed by the

plasma membrane.

Nine doublets of microtubules are arranged around a pair at the

center.
Cilia sweep mucus carrying trapped debris from the
lungs.
 Chromosome movement in cell division
A centrosome comprises of two microtubule rings,
centrioles.

centrosome

astral
microtubule

polar chromosomal
microtubule microtubule
Cleavage furrow formation in cell division
• In animal cells, the centrosome has a pair of
centrioles, each with 9 triplets of microtubules
arranged in a ring.

• During cell division the

centrioles replicate.
Organelles movement
 Microfilaments
The thinnest class of the cytoskeletal fibers,
Diameter 7 nm

solid rods of actin protein

An actin microfilament consists of a twisted double

chain of actin subunits.
They provide support.
The shape of the microvilli in intestinal cells is supported by
microfilaments, anchored to a network of intermediate
filaments.
In muscle cells, actin filaments are arranged parallel

Thicker filaments, composed of a motor protein,

myosin, interdigitate with the thinner actin fibers
Myosin molecules walk along the actin filament,
pulling stacks of actin fibers together and
shortening the cell.
In other cells, these actin-myosin aggregates are less
organized but still cause localized contraction.

Localized contraction also drives amoeboid movement.

Pseudopodia
actin
 Intermediate filaments
Intermediate in size at 8 - 12 nm

More permanent fixtures of the cytoskeleton than

other two classes

Keratin is the key structural material making up

 Outer layer of human skin
 Hair and nails
Specialized for bearing tension

Reinforce cell shape and fix organelle location

Formation of nuclear lamina

Anchor other microfilaments
 Types of intermediate filaments
Type I-Type VI
Type I - Acidic Keratins

 Present in mammalian epithelial cells

 Consists of acidic, low molecular weight proteins

Type II - Basic Keratins

 Present in mammalian epithelial cells
 Consists of basic or neutral, high molecular weight
proteins
 Type III
Vimentin, the most widely distributed of all IF proteins

Found in leukocytes, blood vessel endothelial cells

Type IV
Neurofilaments, along axons of neurons

Major component of the neuronal

cytoskeleton

Neurofilaments: found in the cytoplasm of neurons.

 Type V
Lamins are fibrous proteins having structural function
in the cell nucleus.

Type VI
Nestin, expressed mostly in nerve cells where they are
implicated in growth of the axon
 Diseases in Organelle malfunctions
Defects in brain development

Male infertility due to immotile or poorly motile sperm

Reduced female fertility due to immotile oviductal cilia

Developmental defects that cause internal organs to be

misplaced or malformed
Thanks
Sol: The liquid state of a colloidal solution is called the sol. Gel: The solid or semi-
solid (Jelly like) stage of a colloidal solution is called the gel.

A fibroblast is a type of biological cell that synthesizes the extracellular

matrix and collagen, produces the structural framework (stroma) for animal
tissues, and plays a critical role in wound healing. Fibroblasts are the most
common cells of connective tissue in animals.

MreB along with MreC and MreD are named after the mre operon (murein
formation gene cluster E) to which they all belong.