BIO 3153 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Tubulin, Microfilament, Microtubule
Document Summary
Found near the cortex of the cell. Found near the axis of a neuron. Cytoskeleton of a cell is constructed to maintain dynamic. Small subunits form filaments e. g. like lego blocks - use small things to make bigger things. Actin and tubulin are the small subunits compact and globular. They organize in a very specific way. Actin and tubular very different subunits and very different ways of constructing the cytoskeleton. Small subunit are turned into large filamentous polymers. A signal initiates a cascade in the membrane. Disassembly of filaments and rapid diffusion of subunits. Reassembly of filaments at a new site. Mts are long cylinder composed of tubulin. This cylinder is constructed into a protofilament. 1 protofilament is weak due to weak noncovalent bonds. A sheet of protofilaments will be stronger than just one. To snap a whole sheet will be difficult as there are bonds between each protofilament.
