Chapter 11 Flashcards
What are the 5 functions of cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells?
a. enables motion of organelles inside the cell
b. allows chromosomes to be properly partitioned to progeny cells
c. enables cells to move or move things along their surface
d. organizes the internal structure of the cell
e. determines the overall shape of the cell
What is a collection of proteins that form the roadways of the cell’s transportation system and motors that run on them?
cytoskeleton
What 3 major structural proteins is the cytoskeleton composed of?
a. microtubules
b. microfilaments
c. intermediate filaments
Microtubules are formed from what proteins?
tubulin proteins
Structure of microtubules
hollow tube
What 4 drugs disrupt microtubule polymerization?
a. taxol (paclitaxel)
b. colchicine
c. zoxamide
d. griseofulvin
Which drug prevents tubulin subunits from dissociating?
Taxol
Which drug blocks mitosis and are used to treat cancers?
Taxol
Which drug causes microtubules to dissociate and disappear?
colchicine
Which drug binds to fungal tubulins and prevents fungal growth?
zoxamide
What drug is used to control fungal blight in potatoes?
zoxamide
When does GTP never hydrolyze nor exchange with nucleotides in solution?
when the molecule of GTP bound to alpha-tubulin is next to the beta-tubulin
When is GTP hydrolyzed to GDP and can exchange with nucleotides in solution?
when the molecule of GTP is bound to beta-tubulin exposed at the end
About how many of what assemble parallel to one another to form a hollow microtubule tube?
11-15 protofilaments
How do tubulin heterodimers assemble into microtubules?
self-assemble
Microtubules are arranged in what fashion?
polar fashion
Why are microtubules arranged in a polar fashion?
all the tubulin heterodimers have the same orientation within each protofilament and all the protofilaments run in the same direction within a microtubule, so one end of the microtubule has only beta-tubulin exposed (plus end) while the other end has only alpha-tublin exposed (minus end)
What allows microtubules to act as directional tracks for molecular motor proteins, and is essential for organizing the interior of a cell?
polarity of microtubules
In fibroblasts, where are the minus ends and the plus ends?
minus ends in the interior of the cell
plus ends at the periphery
In epithelial cells where are plus and minus ends?
plus ends are basal
minus ends are apical
What happens if microtubules are depolymerized?
cells tend to lose their shape, forming round balls
Golgi complex fragments, disperse through the cell, the ER collapses around the nucleus
What does the instability of microtubules allow?
allows for dramtic rearrangement of microtubules to take place
In vitro, studies with purified tubulin and GTP in an appropriate buffer enable what?
observation of polymerization kinetics
In vitro studies, the amount of polymerization can be tracked by what?
light scattering by microtubules but not by tubulin heterodimers