Microtubule

Structure of a microtubule.

Microtubules are found in biological cells as a part of the cytoskeleton. They are hollow tubes whose walls consist of 13 columns of tubulin molecules. Its main functions are to maintain a cell's shape, cell motility, chromosome movement in cell division, and organelle movement. They look like hollow noodles which transmit signals to our nerves

Microtubule Media

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  Microtubule and tubulin metrics

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  Microtubules are one of the cytoskeletal filament systems in eukaryotic cells. The microtubule cytoskeleton is involved in the transport of material within cells, carried out by motor proteins that move on the surface of the microtubule.

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  Cartoon representation of the structure of α(yellow)/β(red)-tubulin heterodimer, GTP and GDP.

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  Components of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. Actin filaments are shown in red, microtubules are in green, and the nuclei are in blue. The cytoskeleton provides the cell with an inner framework and enables it to move and change shape.

• Animation of the microtubule dynamic instability. Tubulin dimers bound to GTP (red) bind to the growing end of a microtubule and subsequently hydrolyze GTP into GDP (blue).

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  Image of a fibroblast cell containing fluorescently labeled actin (red) and microtubules (green).

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  A cytoplasmic dynein motor bound to a microtubule.

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  A kinesin molecule bound to a microtubule.

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  A 3D diagram of a centriole. Each circle represents one microtubule. In total there are 27 microtubules organized into 9 bundles of 3.

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  This diagram depicts the organization of a typical mitotic spindle found in animal cells. Shown here are the three main types of microtubules during mitosis and how they are oriented in the cell and the mitotic spindle.