The Cytoskeleton

Professor David Van Vactor describes the structure of the cytoskeleton, which acts as a scaffold for the cell.

Neurons, like many cells, have a very complicated architecture, but essentially the surface of the cell is a thin lipid membrane. The part of the cell that gives a cell the ability to take shape and obtain these complex structures is a structural network underneath the surface of the cell composed of proteins polymers, like 2-by-4s, steel girders, structural elements that support the cell. Unlike a scaffold that will support a house or structure, like the one surrounding us, this skeleton, the cellular skeleton, is highly dynamic and continually changes over the life of the cell.

cytoskeleton, cell, structure, shape, architecture, neurons, lipid, membrane, david, van, vactor

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