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The cellular matrix

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Title: The cellular matrix Cytoskeleton: structure and role Cellular motility Author: Ciobanu Camelia Last modified by: Ciobanu Camelia Created Date – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: The cellular matrix


1
The cellular matrix
2
The cellular matrix(cytoplasm, cytosol)
  • forms the unique compartment of prokaryotic cell
    that is bounded by the plasma membrane
  • in eukaryotes, the cytoplasm represents the area
    of the cell outside the membrane-enclosed
    compartments (nucleus and the organelles)

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Physical properties of the cytoplasm
  • more or less gel-like or liquid depending on the
    external conditions and the activity phases of
    the cell. In the first case, it is named cytogel
    and is a viscous solid mass. In the second case,
    called cytosol, it acts like a fluid
  • in general, margin regions of the cell, called
    the cell cortex or the ectoplasm, are gel-like,
    while the cell interior, the endoplasm, is liquid
  • the cytoplasm in eukaryotes is described as a
    dynamic structure since it may change from fluid
    (sol) to viscous (gel) then back again to being
    fluid
  • in prokaryotes it has a jelly-like texture and
    lacks the cytoplasmic movements

5
Chemical components of the cytoplasm
  • The cytoplasm is a complex mixture of substances
    dissolved or suspended in water
  • It consists mostly of water, dissolved gases,
    ions, small and large molecules, like different
    salts, carbohydrates, proteins and enzymes, as
    well as a great proportion of RNA and free
    ribosomes
  • In prokaryotes the cytosol contains the cell
    genome, an irregular mass of DNA and associated
    proteins known as a nucleoid
  • There also are small particles of insoluble
    substances suspended in the cytosol that are
    called cytoplasmic inclusions

6
Water
  • most of the cytosol is water, which makes up
    about 70 of the total volume of a typical cell
  • reducing the amount of water in a cell below 80
    of the normal level inhibits metabolism, with
    this decreasing progressively as the cell dries
    out and all metabolism halting at a water level
    about 30 of normal
  • 85 of cell water acts like that pure water,
    while the remainder is less mobile and probably
    bound to macromolecules

7
Ions
  • The concentrations of the ions in cytosol are
    quite different from those in extracellular fluid
  • the cytosol also contains much higher amounts of
    charged macromolecules such as proteins and
    nucleic acids than the outside of the cell
  • This difference in ion concentrations is critical
    for osmoregulation.
  • Cells can deal with even larger osmotic changes
    by accumulating osmoprotectants such as betaines
    or trehalose in their cytosol.
  • Some of these molecules can allow cells to
    survive being completely dried out and allow an
    organism to enter a state of suspended animation
    called cryptobiosis.
  • In this state the cytosol and osmoprotectants
    become a glass-like solid that helps stabilize
    proteins and cell membranes from the damaging
    effects of desiccation.

8
Protein complexes
  • The amount of protein is extremely high occupying
    about 20-30 of the volume of the cytosol.
  • Proteins can associate to form protein complexes,
    these often contain a set of proteins with
    similar functions, such as enzymes that carry out
    several steps in the same metabolic pathway.
  • This organization can allow substrate
    channelling, which is when the product of one
    enzyme is passed directly to the next enzyme in a
    pathway without being released into solution.
  • Channelling can make a pathway more rapid and
    efficient than it would be if the enzymes were
    randomly distributed in the cytosol and can also
    prevent the release of unstable reaction
    intermediates.

9
Protein complexes
  • Some protein complexes contain a large central
    cavity that is isolated from the reminder of the
    cytosol.
  • One example of such compartment is the
    proteasome.
  • a set of subunits form a hollow barrel containing
    proteases that degrade cytosolic proteins.
  • Since these would be damaging if they mixed
    freely with the remainder of the cytosol, the
    barrel is capped by a set of regulatory proteins
    that recognize proteins with a signal directing
    them for degradation and feed them into the
    proteolytic cavity.

10
Protein complexes
  • Another large class of protein compartments is
    bacterial microcompartments, which are made of a
    protein shell that encapsulates various enzymes.
  • An example is the carboxysome, which contains
    enzymes involved in carbon fixation such as
    RuBisCO.

11
  • On the left is an electron microscope image of
    carboxysomes and on the right a model of their
    structure

12
Cytoplasmic inclusions
  • A huge range of cytoplasmic inclusions exist in
    different cell types, from crystals of calcium
    oxalate or silicon dioxide in plants to granules
    of energy-storage materials such as starch,
    glycogen or polyhydroxybutyrate.
  • A particularly widespread example are lipid
    droplets, which are spherical droplets composed
    of lipids and proteins that are used in both
    prokaryotes and eukaryotes as a way of storing
    lipids such as fatty acids and sterols.
  • Lipid droplets make up much of the volume of
    adipocytes, which are specialized lipid-storage
    cells, but they are also found in a range of
    other cell types.

13
Macromolecular crowding
  • The high concentration of macromolecules in
    cytosol causes an effect called macromolecular
    crowding
  • when the effective concentration of other
    macromolecules is increased, they have less
    volume to move in.
  • can produce large changes in both the rates and
    the position of chemical equilibrium of reactions
    in the cytosol.
  • It is particularly important in its ability to
    alter dissociation constants by favouring the
    association of macromolecules, such as when
    multiple proteins come together to form protein
    complexes or when DNA-binding proteins bind to
    their targets in the genome.

14
Function of the cytoplasm
  • signal transduction from the cell membrane to
    sites within the cell, such as the nucleus or
    organelles.
  • the site of many of the processes of cytokinesis,
    after the breakdown of the nuclear membrane in
    cell division.
  • transport metabolites from their site of
    production to where they are used.
  • site of the most chemical reactions of metabolism
    (protein biosynthesis, the pentose phosphate
    pathway, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis)

15
Organization of the cytoplasm
  • concentration gradients of small molecules
  • large complexes of enzymes that act together to
    carry out metabolic pathways
  • protein complexes such as proteasomes and
    carboxysomes that enclose and separate parts of
    the cytosol
  • the cytoskeleton, a network of a protein fibres
    dispersed through the cytosol

16
Concentration gradients
  • "calcium sparks" that are produced for a short
    period in the region around an open calcium
    channel.
  • are about 2 µm in diameter and last for only a
    few milliseconds
  • several sparks can merge together to form larger
    gradients, called "calcium waves
  • concentration gradients of other small molecules,
    such as oxygen and ATP may be produced in cells
    around clusters of mitochondria

17
Cytoskeleton(the cell skeleton)
  • unique to eukaryotic cells
  • consists of a web or mesh of protein fibres that
    pervade throughout the cell and are incredibly
    versatile
  • these long fibres are polymers of protein
    subunits that constantly shrink and grow to meet
    the needs of the cell
  • is made up of three types of protein fibres
    microtubules, actin microfilaments and
    intermediate filaments
  • there are a great number of proteins associated
    with them, controlling a cell structure by
    directing, bundling and aligning fibres

18
  • Organization of cytoskeleton within a cell

19
Cytoskeleton
  • Each type of fibre looks and functions
    differently, performing a variety of specific
    cell processes
  • the cytoskeleton acts as both skeleton and
    muscle, for cellular stability and movement
  • As its name implies, the cytoskeleton provides
    the cell shape and support
  • the primary importance of this dynamic
    three-dimensional structure is in cell motility,
    managing intracellular traffic of organelles and
    macromolecules, movement of chromosomes during
    cell division and separating daughter cells, as
    well as cell locomotion

20
Microtubules are Part of the Cytoskeleton
  • they are one of the components of a structural
    network within the cytoplasm
  • radiates from the centre of the cell
  • are involved in the mitotic spindle, a structure
    used by eukaryotic cells to segregate their
    chromosomes correctly during cell division
  • are part of the cilia and flagella of eukaryotic
    cells
  • are hollow cylinders about 25 nm in diameter and
    length varying from 200 nm to 25 µm (they can
    grow 1000 times as long as they are wide)

21
Structure of Microtubules
  • They are polymers, composed of a single type of
    globular protein, called tubulin
  • Tubulin is a heterodimer consisting of two
    closely related polypeptides, a-tubulin and
    ß-tubulin
  • The tubulin dimers polymerize end to end in
    protofilaments, with the a subunit of one tubulin
    dimer contacting the ß subunit of the next
  • The protofilaments then bundle into hollow
    cylindrical microtubule. Typically, the
    protofilaments arrange themselves in an imperfect
    helix with one turn of the helix containing 13
    tubulin dimers, each from a different
    protofilament.

22
  • As the dimers assemble, they form a series of
    rings, 25 nm in diameter. In top view, each ring
    consists of 13 beads. The rows of beads in side
    view are called protofilaments.

23
Dynamic Instability
  • Microtubules are dynamic structures that undergo
    continual assembly and disassembly within the
    cell.
  • This behaviour, known as dynamic instability, in
    which individual microtubules alternate between
    cycles of growth and shrinkage results from the
    hydrolysis of GTP.
  • The GTP bound to tubulin is hydrolyzed to GDP
    during or shortly after polymerization, which
    weakens the binding affinity of tubulin for
    adjacent molecules, thereby favouring
    depolymerization
  • Tubulin molecules bound to GDP are continually
    lost from the minus end and replaced by the
    addition of tubulin molecules bound to GTP to the
    plus end of the same microtubule

24
Dynamic Instability
  • Whether a microtubule grows or shrinks is
    determined by the rate of tubulin addition
    relative to the rate of GTP hydrolysis.
  • As long as new GTP-bound tubulin molecules are
    added more rapidly than GTP is hydrolyzed, the
    microtubule retains a GTP cap at its end and
    microtubule growth continues.
  • If the rate of polymerization slows, the GTP
    bound to tubulin at the end of the microtubule
    will be hydrolyzed to GDP. If this occurs, the
    GDP-bound tubulin will dissociate, resulting in
    rapid depolymerization and shrinkage of the
    microtubule.

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Polarity of Microtubules
  • Microtubules are polar structures
  • They have two distinct ends
  • - a fast-growing end
  • - a slow-growing end
  • These ends are designated the plus () and minus
    (-), respectively.

27
Microtubule Organizing Centre (MTOC)
  • from MTOC microtubules radiate
  • is the centrosome, which is located adjacent to
    the nucleus
  • during cell division, microtubules similarly
    extend outward from duplicated centrosomes to
    form the mitotic spindle

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Structure of centrosome
  • The centrosomes of most animal cells contain a
    pair of centrioles, oriented perpendicular to
    each other, surrounded by amorphous
    pericentriolar material. The centrioles are
    cylindrical structures consisting of nine
    triplets of microtubules

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31
  • Centrioles do not appear to be required for the
    assembly or organization of microtubules, since
    centrioles are not found in plant cells, many
    unicellular eukaryotes and some animal cells
    (such as mouse eggs)
  • The microtubules that emanate from the centrosome
    terminate actually in the pericentriolar material
    that serves as the initiation site for the
    assembly of microtubules.

32
Nucleation and growth
  • The key protein in MTOC that nucleates assembly
    of microtubules is ?-tubulin
  • The ?-tubulin combines with several other
    associated proteins to form a circular structure
    known as the "?-tubulin ring complex" that has
    diameter similar to those of microtubules.
  • This complex acts as a scaffold for a/ß tubulin
    dimers to begin polymerization it also acts as a
    cap of the (-) end while microtubule growth
    continues away from the MTOC in the ()
    direction, toward the cell periphery.
  • The initiation of microtubule growth at the
    centrosome establishes the polarity of
    microtubules within the cell.

33
Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs)
  • The dynamic behaviour of microtubules can be
    modified by the interactions with certain
    proteins.
  • Some cellular proteins act to disassemble
    microtubules, either by severing them or by
    increasing the rate of tubulin depolymerization
    from microtubule ends.
  • Other proteins, called microtubule-associated
    proteins (MAPs) bind directly to microtubules or
    link them to various cellular components
    including other microtubules. Thus, they increase
    microtubule stability.
  • Such interactions allow the cell to stabilize
    microtubules in particular locations, such as
    cilia and flagella or axons and dendrites of
    nerve cells.

34
Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs)
  • A large number of MAPs have been identified, and
    they vary depending on the type of cell.
  • The best-characterized are MAP-1, MAP-2 and tau,
    isolated from neuronal cells, and MAP-4, which is
    present in all non-neuronal vertebrate cell
    types.
  • The tau protein has been extensively studied
    because it is the main component of the
    characteristic lesions found in the brains of
    Alzheimer patients. Tau protein facilitates
    bundling of microtubules within the nerve cell.

35
Function of Microtubules
  • structural components within cells, acting as a
    scaffold to determine the cell shape and the
    location of organelles and other cell components.
  • involving in many cellular processes including
    separating chromosomes during cell division and
    intracellular transport. When arranged in
    geometric patterns inside flagella and cilia,
    they are used for locomotion.

36
Actin Filaments are Part of the Cytoskeleton
  • Most actin filaments, which work together to give
    support and structure to the plasma membrane and
    its extensions such as microvilli or pseudopods,
    are therefore found beneath the cell membrane.
  • They are thin and flexible structures, around 6
    nm in diameter and a few micrometers in length.

37
Structure of Actin Filaments
  • They are made up of actin, which is the most
    abundant protein of cytoskeleton.
  • This type of protein exists in two forms,
    globular and fibrous, designated G-actin and
    F-actin, respectively.
  • Globular G-actin monomers can associate to form
    the filamentous F-actin, in which subunits are
    arranged like two strings of beads twisted
    together.

38
Actin Polymerization
  • ATP binds to G-actin and facilitates
    polymerization into filaments.
  • These are asymmetric and the two extremities
    retain different kinetic characteristics.
  • Actin monomers assemble much more rapidly at the
    plus () end of filaments compared to the minus
    (-) end.

39
Dynamic Instability of Filaments
  • Following assembly on actin filament, the ATP
    spontaneously hydrolyzes to ADP and this induces
    a change in the filament conformation, resulting
    in a less stable form at the minus end, which
    depolymerises.
  • As long as the actin filaments continue to grow,
    there are freshly added, ATP-containing actin
    proteins at the growing end.
  • If growth slows, then the terminal actin proteins
    end up with ADP and they spontaneously
    depolymerize.

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Actin-Binding Proteins (ABPs)
  • In situ, the polymerization-depolymerization of
    actin is controlled by the actin-binding
    proteins, which combine with actin monomers and
    also with actin filaments.
  • Fundamental cellular processes, such as
    cytoplasmic streaming, pseudopods movement and
    growth cone extension of neurons, endocytosis or
    exocytosis are regulated by specific ABPs.

42
Actin-Binding Proteins (ABPs)
  • some control the addition of monomers by
    sequestering them or favouring ADP/ATP exchange
  • others bind to the barbed end of the actin
    filament and prevent further elongation (capping
    proteins)
  • some cause fragmentation of filaments (severing
    proteins) or might favour the depolymerization of
    pointed ends
  • ABPs also link actin filaments in a loose network
    (crosslinking proteins) or in a tight bundle
    (bundling proteins)
  • anchor actin filaments to membranes

43
  • Regulation of actin polymerization by the
    actin-binding proteins
  • Symbols used "C" for monomer binding proteins
    "bracket" for capping and severing proteins
    "squiggle" for cross-linking proteins

44
The classical actin-binding protein, profilin,
inhibits polymerization of actin by
sequestering the monomeric actin
45
  • Gelsolin, other ABPs (colored in yellow and
    orange) increases the number of the actin
    filaments by binding, severing and capping of a
    long filament (shown in blue). Uncapping of
    gelsolin from these filaments generates many
    polymerization-capable ends from which actin can
    grow to rebuild the cytoskeleton to a new
    specification.

46
  • The actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF),also
    called cofilin
  • (red coloured),enhances actin turnover

47
In muscle cells
  • the actin filaments associated with specific ABPs
    form stabile structures, about 8 nm in diameter
    and thereby called "thin" filaments.
  • attached to the actin chains of the thin filament
    are the proteins tropomyosin and troponin (Tn).
  • a tropomyosin molecule runs along actin filament,
    bound to the actin. Each tropomyosin subunit
    covers about 7 G-actin subunits.
  • the troponin molecule has three subunits TnT
    that binds to tropomyosin near the ends of the
    tropomyosin subunits TnI that binds to the
    actin TnC that binds to the TnI and TnT
    subunits, and which also has a strong affinity
    for Ca2 at four binding sites.

48
Functions of Actin Filaments
  • They can gather into bundles, web-like networks
    and even three-dimensional gels, as well as they
    shorten or lengthen to allow cells to change
    shape and move.
  • Are responsible for resisting tension and
    maintaining cellular shape
  • forming cytoplasmic protuberances like pseudopods
    and microvilli
  • participation in some cell-to-cell or
    cell-to-matrix junctions.
  • are essential to transduction by restructuring
    the cytoskeleton in response to a variety of
    signals.
  • are also important for cytokinesis of animal
    cells (specifically, formation of the cleavage
    furrow)
  • produce cytoplasmic streaming in most cells
  • generate locomotion in cells such as white blood
    cells and the amoeba
  • make possible the muscular contraction

49
Intermediate Filaments are part of the
Cytoskeleton
  • the final class of protein fibres that compose
    the cytoskeleton
  • are rope-like and fibrous, with a diameter of
    approximately 10 nm
  • they are typically intermediate in size between
    actin filaments (8 nm) and microtubules (25 nm)

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  • Intermediate filaments are not found in all
    eukaryotic cells and most of them are
    cytoplasmic, but one type, the lamins, is
    nuclear.
  • Intermediate filaments are different to actin
    filaments and microtubules in a number of
    fundamental respects

52
Types of Intermediate filaments
  • Unlike the highly conserved actins and tubulins,
    more than 40 distinct proteins are encoded by a
    number of genes in mammalian cells.
  • Intermediate filaments presence and composition
    are not only species dependent, but also vary
    with the tissue type.
  • So, if one analyzes intermediate filaments in
    tumours, one can determine the origin of some
    kinds of cancer and possible treatments for them.
  • In vertebrates, the intermediate filaments can be
    divided into five major types, each constructed
    from one or more proteins characteristic.

53
Types I and II
  • Acidic and Basic Keratins, respectively
  • These proteins tend to be more or less permanent
    structures in epithelial tissues. In non-living
    cells of skin, hair and nails keratins are almost
    the only protein.
  • Acidic and basic keratins associate to make a
    keratin filament. In epithelia, keratin
    intermediate filaments form junctions that hold
    cells together (desmosomes) or attach cells to
    matrix (hemidesmosomes).

54
Type III
  • Desmin in muscle cells.
  • GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) in
    astrocytes and other glia.
  • Peripherin in peripheral neurons.
  • Vimentin in fibroblasts, leukocytes, and blood
    vessel endothelial cells.
  • They support the cellular membranes and keep some
    organelles in a fixed place within the cytoplasm

55
Type IV
  • a-Internexin
  • Neurofilaments in high concentrations along the
    axons of vertebrate neurons.
  • Synemin
  • Syncoilin
  • Phakinin and Philensin in lens fibres of the eye

56
Type V
  • Nuclear Lamins
  • Lamins are fibrous proteins having structural
    function in the nuclear envelope. They have a
    nuclear signal sequence so they can form a
    filamentous support, subjacent to the inner
    nuclear membrane, called the nuclear lamina.
  • Lamins are vital during cell division, driving
    the disassembly of the lamina and the nuclear
    envelope and also the reformation of them after
    division.

57
Intermediate Filament Polymerization
  • While tubulins and actins are globular molecules,
    all intermediate filaments proteins , are
    elongated fibrous peptides, which have a similar
    structure with a central helical rod domain and
    more variable head and tail domains at both the
    amino and carboxyl ends

58
Intermediate Filament Polymerization
  • The rods coil of a monomer subunit around another
    like a rope to form a dimer.
  • The N and C terminals of each filament are
    aligned.

59
Intermediate Filament Polymerization
  • The dimers then associate in an antiparallel
    arrangement to form a tetramer
  • The tetramer is considered the basic subunit of
    the intermediate filament, existing free in the
    cytoplasm

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Intermediate Filament Polymerization
  • Tetramer units pack together laterally to form a
    sheet of eight parallel protofibrils
  • protofibils are super coiled into a tight bundle
  • the filament is easy to bend but quite difficult
    to break, thus accounting for the extreme
    structural rigidity

61
Intermediate Filament Polymerization
  • The antiparallel orientation of tetramers means
    that, unlike microtubules and actin filaments
    which have a plus end and a minus end,
    intermediate filaments lack polarity.
  • Also, as opposed to tubulin or actin,
    intermediate filaments do not contain a binding
    site for a nucleoside triphosphate, neither GTP
    nor ATP.

62
Intermediate Filaments are Stable
  • Unlike the other cytoskeleton fibres,
    microtubules and actin filaments that are
    constantly made and disassembled, the mesh-like
    structures of intermediate filaments retain their
    forms.
  • The stability of intermediate filaments is
    required to maintain the shape of a cell.

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  • Intermediate filaments are only disassembled
    prior to the formation of new cells.
  • During cell division, the proteins of the
    intermediate filaments are phosphorylated by an
    enzyme, protein kinase that controls the cell
    cycle.
  • The phosphorylated proteins disassemble the
    nuclear envelope and permit chromosomes to move
    to each end of the cell.
  • Following division, a nucleus is reassembled
    around the nuclear lamina and chromosomes of each
    daughter cell.

64
Biomechanical properties
  • The unique overlapping and twisted conformation
    of the protein molecules in intermediate
    filaments makes them resistant to stretching.
  • They are rather deformable proteins that can be
    stretched several times their initial length.
  • Like actin filaments, intermediate filaments
    function in the maintenance of cell shape and
    rigidity, by bearing tension. In contrast,
    microtubules resist compression.

65
Roles in the cell
  • Despite their chemical diversity, intermediate
    filaments provide the physical strength of cells.
  • The intermediate filaments span the cell and
    connect to proteins penetrating the membrane and
    attached to the cell on the opposite side. In
    this way these tough fibres of protein with the
    tensile strength of steel provide an
    intracellular mesh to help cell layers resist
    mechanical stretching.
  • Intermediate filaments organize the internal
    three-dimensional structure of the cell,
    anchoring organelles and the nucleus.
  • They serve as structural components of the
    nuclear lamina.
  • They also participate in some cell-cell and
    cell-matrix junctions.

66
  • Cellular Motility

67
Cellular Motility
  • refers to movement of subcellular structures and
    also of entire cell
  • is driven by physical forces generated by
    cytoskeleton elements
  • involves two mechanisms based on specific
    molecular interactions
  • tubulin (microtubules) kinesin or dynein
  • actin (actin filaments) myosin

68
Microtubules
  • separating chromosomes during cell division
  • intracellular transport of particles
  • beating of cilia and flagella
  • All these movements are generated by the dynamic
    instability of microtubules and in addition by
    the motor proteins that interact with
    microtubules.

69
Moving Chromosomes
  • Microtubules completely reorganize during
    mitosis, providing a dramatic example of the
    importance of their dynamic instability.
  • The microtubule array present in interphase cells
    disassembles and the free tubulin subunits are
    reassembled to form the mitotic spindle, which is
    responsible for the separation of daughter
    chromosomes.
  • This restructuring of the microtubule
    cytoskeleton is directed by duplication of the
    centrosome to form two separate microtubule
    organizing centres at opposite poles of the
    mitotic spindle.

70
  • Formation of the mitotic spindle involves the
    selective stabilization of some of the
    microtubules radiating from the centrosomes
  • kinetochore microtubules attach to the
    chromosomes
  • polar microtubules are stabilized by overlapping
    with each other in the centre of the cell
  • astral microtubules extend outward from the
    centrosomes to the cell periphery and have freely
    exposed plus ends.
  • Both the kinetochore and polar microtubules also
    contribute to chromosome movement by pushing the
    spindle poles apart.

71
  • the chromosomes first align on the metaphase
    plate and then separate, with the two chromatids
    of each chromosome being pulled to opposite poles
    of the spindle, because of shrinkage of the
    kinetochore microtubules and simultaneously
    growth of polar microtubules.
  • Chromosome movement also is mediated by both
    motor proteins associated with microtubules,
    kinesin and dynein.

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  • The centrioles and centrosomes duplicate during
    interphase.
  • During prophase of mitosis, the duplicated
    centrosomes separate and move to opposite sides
    of the nucleus.
  • The nuclear envelope then disassembles, and
    microtubules reorganize to form the mitotic
    spindle
  • Kinetochore microtubules are attached to the
    condensed chromosomes
  • polar microtubules overlap with each other in the
    center of the cell
  • astral microtubules extend outward to the cell
    periphery.
  • At metaphase, the condensed chromosomes are
    aligned at the centre of the spindle.

73
Drugs affect microtubuleassembly or disassembly
  • are useful in the treatment of cancer.
  • Colchicine and colcemid bind tubulin and inhibit
    microtubule polymerization, which in turn blocks
    mitosis.
  • Two related drugs (vincristine and vinblastine)
    lead to microtubule depolymerization and they
    selectively inhibit rapidly dividing cells.

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Intracellular Transport
  • The motion is provided by motor proteins kinesin
    and dynein that use the energy of ATP to direct
    cargos movement along microtubules.
  • Kinesins are a family of proteins that are
    involved in the transport of organelles and
    vesicles, but also in moving chromosomes.
  • Cytoplasmic dyneins are involved in organelle
    transport and in moving chromosomes.

75
Kinesins and cytoplasmic dyneinsmove in opposite
directions along a microtubule
  • Kinesins and dyneins are composed of two globular
    ATP-binding head and a rod-like tail.
  • The two head domains are ATPase motors that bind
    to microtubules
  • The tail generally binds to specific cell
    components and thereby specify the type of cargo
    that the protein transports.

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This figure shows a 3-D view of a neuron with its
processes(axon an dendrites) containing
microtubules
  • Organelles and vesicles containing kinesin move
    from the minus end of a microtubule to the plus
    end.
  • Hence, kinesin produces movement from the centre
    of a cell to its periphery, called anterograde
    transport. For example, the rapid transport of
    organelles and vesicles along the axons of
    neurons takes place along microtubules with their
    plus ends pointed toward the end of the axon.
  • In contrast, cytoplasmic dynein moves the
    particles from the plus end to the minus end of
    the microtubules, called retrograde transport

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Beating of Cilia and Flagella
  • Beyond the role they play in internal cell
    movement, microtubules also can combine in very
    specific arrangements to form larger structures
    that work on the outside of the cells.
  • Cilia flap back and forth to help the cell move.
    They are essential for the locomotion of certain
    individual organisms. In multicellular organisms,
    cilia function to move fluid or materials past an
    immobile cell as well as moving a cell or group
    of cells.
  • Flagella whip around and sometimes twirl, pushing
    the cell along. They are used for motility by
    certain unicellular organisms and sperm cells.

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Difference of beating pattern of flagellum and
cilia
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Structure of eukaryotic cilium and flagellum
  • they are extensions of the cell surface and
    bounded by the plasma membrane
  • they have a microtubule cytoskeleton, the
    axoneme, that go the length of the cilium or
    flagellum
  • they have protein motor, axonemal dynein
  • they are attached to the cell at a structure
    termed the basal body

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  • The axoneme contains two central microtubules
    that are surrounded by an outer ring of nine
    doublet microtubules. (This structure is commonly
    referred to as a "92" arrangement).
  • Dynein molecules are located around the
    circumference of the axoneme at regular intervals
    along its length where they bridge the gaps
    between adjacent microtubule doublets.

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  • Basal body maintains the basic outer ring
    structure of the axoneme, but each of the nine
    sets of circumferential filaments is composed of
    three microtubules ("90" arrangement).
  • The basal body is structurally identical to the
    centrioles that are found in the centrosome
    located near the nucleus of the cell.
  • It is the microtubule organizing centre (MTOC)
    for cilia and flagella microtubules.

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Mechanism of mouvement
  • Each of the outer 9 doublet microtubules extends
    a pair of dynein arms (an "inner" and an "outer"
    arm) to the adjacent microtubule
  • dynein arms have a head which hydrolyzes ATP and
    interacts with the adjacent microtubules to
    generate a sliding force between the microtubules
  • the microtubules are linked together therefore,
    they can not slide but must bend.
  • This local bending of the microtubules is the
    mechanism of movement, the beating of cilia and
    flagella.
  • The axoneme also contains radial spokes,
    polypeptide complexes extending from each of the
    outer 9 microtubule doublets towards the central
    pair. It is thought they are involved in the
    regulation of motion.

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Kartagener syndrome
  • is caused by problems with the dynein arms that
    extend between the microtubules present in the
    axoneme
  • is characterized by recurrent respiratory
    infections related to the inability of cilia in
    the respiratory tract to clear away bacteria or
    other materials
  • the disease also results in male sterility due to
    the inability of sperm cells to propel themselves
    via flagella.
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