NAME: MARIA FLORDELONA A.

CENTRO MODULE NUMBER: 6

SUBJECT: BIO 105 Date of Submission: April 25,
2022

The Cytoskeleton and Cell Motility

LESSON 1 The Microtubules

Activity
Diagram the structure of microtubules.

Analysis 1. What do you observe with your illustration?

 From what I have observed in the illustration above is that

microtubules is like hallow tubes with a rod-shape and are
rigid .

2. Where can you find the microtubules?

 Microtuules can be found in the centrosome of animal

cells.

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 3. What do you think is the makeup of the mitotic spindle?

 Microtubules make up spindle fibers, which look as

spindle-shaped structures. During mitosis, they form
outside the nucleus. The spindle fibers (microtubules),
microtubule-associated proteins, and the microtubule
organizing center are the main components of the mitotic
spindle.

4. What do you think are the functions of microtubules?

 Microtubules have a role in determining the shape of a cell.

They can also be used to link many cell movements
together. These include cell motility in various forms,
intracellular transfer of organelles, and chromosomal
separation during cell division. Microtubules are important
in the beating of cilia and flagella in particular.

5. Are there microtubules in plant cells?

 No, because centrosome is absent in plant cells in which a

microtubule is organized in this so-called centrosome.
Applicatio
n 1. Describe the structure of microtubules.

 Microtubules are rigid, rod-like polymers of tubulin. They

have a diameter of 25 nm and may grow to a length of
more than 20 m in cells and even much longer in vitro and
when stretched, they are stiff and can burst.

2. What is the principal function of the microtubules?

 Its principal function is defining cell shape.

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 3. What does it mean by dynamic instability behavior of
microtubules?

 Microtubules are extremely active, growing and shrinking

at a quick yet steady rate. Tubulin subunits associate and
disassociate from the plus end of the protofilament and
during this event, it is coined as 'dynamic instability.' It is
the co-existence of growing and shrinking microtubules in
the same conditions.

4. What is the major microtubule-organizing center in animal

cells?

 Centrosomes serve as organizing centers that regulate the

location, number, and orientation of the microtubules.

LESSON 2 Microfilaments
Activity Illustrate the structure of microfilaments or actin filaments.

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Analysis 1. Describe the structure of actin filaments.

 Actin filaments are short, thin, and pliable structures

measuring 7 nm in diameter. They are built into a diversity
of linear bundles, two–dimensional networks, and three–
dimensional gels. Similar to microtubules, they have a
structural polarity, a plus end, and a minus end.

2. Do you think actin filaments share a common feature with

microtubules? What makes them different?

 Yes, they have the same structural polarity, having a plus

end and minus end. However, they have key difference in
which actin filaments are tiniest filaments made up of actin
proteins while microtubules are the biggest tubulin protein
filaments. In addition, actin filaments are thin and flexible,
whereas microtubules are thick and rigid.

3. Recall the functions of microtubules. Do you think they share

some functions?

 Yes, because actin filaments also determine cell shape.

Applicatio
n 1. Describe the structural organization of actin filaments.

 Actin filaments are made up of a long spiral chain of

identical actin proteins. Actin filaments, like microtubules,
contain plus and minus ends, with the plus end allowing for
greater ATP-powered development.

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 2. What are the functions of the actin filaments?

 Actin filaments allow animal cells to adopt a variety of

shapes and perform a variety of functions.

LESSON 3 Intermediate Filaments

Activity Illustrate the structure of intermediate filaments.

Analysis
1. How do you describe the structure of the intermediate
filaments?

 They are ropelike fibers with a diameter of 10 nm and a

diameter of around 7 nm, which are smaller than
microtubules. They're constructed of fibrous filament
proteins with high tensile strength and a long lifespan.

2. Are they of the same structure as microtubules? What makes

them different?

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  Intermediate filaments are twisted protein strands that are
fashioned like a helix. Individual protein subunits combine
to form dimers, which then combine to make tetramers. As
protofilaments, the tetramers assemble end to end,
overlapping.

3. Do you think they share the functions with other components of

the cytoskeleton?

 Yes, this one of cytoskeleton also helps to give the cell it’s
shape and organize the cell’s parts.

Applicatio 1. Describe the structural organization of intermediate filaments.

n
 They are ropelike fibers with a diameter of 10 nm and a
diameter of around 7 nm, which are smaller than
microtubules. They're constructed of fibrous filament
proteins with high tensile strength and a long lifespan

2. What are the different types of intermediate filaments?

Describe each type.

 Type I and II: acidic and neutral keratins, small size (40-70
KD), epithelial cells.
 Type III: expressed in many cells
- Vimentin (54 kD), forms a network extending from
nucleus to the cell periphery
– Desmin (53 kD), connects Z-discs in muscle, stabilize
actin-myosin
- Glial Fibrilary acidic protein (51 kD), glial cells

- Peripherin (57 k, peripheral neurons.

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  Type IV: Neurofilaments; variable size 67, 150 200 kD
(Light, Medium, Heavy  NF-L, NF-M, NF-H), expressed in
mature neurons

 Type V: nuclear lamins Type VI: Nestins, stem cells,

during embryonic development 4

3. How are intermediate filaments assembled?

 First, two monomers create parallel helical coils around

each other via their core domains. The creation of unit-
length filaments arises from the lateral interaction of eight
tetramers (ULF). Two ULFs are able to anneal in an end-
to-end fashion (i.e. longitudinally) to form a thick filament,
approximately 16 nm in diameter. End-to-end annealing of
ULFs causes filament elongation, which is then followed by
radial compaction to get the ultimate intermediate filament
diameter.

LESSON 4 Cell Mitolity

Activity Carefully observe the figure below. Describe the sequence of

events. Answer the questions that follow in the analysis.

Analysis
1. What do you understand with the figure?
 In my perspective, it shows how cell moves.

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 2. Describe the events in the figure.

 Cell movement requires a lot of coordination. The cell's

front protrudes first, then adheres to the substratum on
which it is traveling. The cytoplasm then travels ahead.
Finally, the cell's back attachments to the substratum are
released, and it travels forward.
.
3. Where do you think this event takes place?

 This event takes place in cytoskeleton.

Applicatio
n 1. Describe the movement of a cell over the substratum.

2. What are the mechanisms of cell motility?

 The movement of the cell is first begun by the protrusion

of a portion of the cell surface in the direction of movement.
(2) A piece of the protrusion's bottom surface adheres to
the substratum, creating temporary anchoring sites. (3)
The majority of the cell is dragged forward over the
adhesive contacts, which finally form a part of the cell's
backside. (4) The cell's rear connections with the
substratum are broken, causing the trailing edge, or "tail,"
to retract.

3. Which component of the cytoskeleton is directly involved in cell

movement?

 Actin filaments, myosin motors, and actin-binding proteins

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 make movement possible,

4. Give an example of cell movement and describe the

mechanism.

 For instance, Vesicular Transportation. In eukaryotic cells,

vesicular transport is the most common way for proteins
and lipids to be exchanged across membrane-bound
organelles. The production of a vesicle by budding from the
membrane is the initial step in vesicular transport. Protein
covers the cytoplasmic surfaces of transport vesicles, and
it appears that the building of these coatings causes
vesicle budding by altering membrane conformation.

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