{"id":1930,"date":"2016-05-06T22:47:19","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T22:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/biologyxwaymakerxmaster\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=1930"},"modified":"2024-04-26T18:45:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T18:45:48","slug":"reading-microfilaments","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-biology1\/chapter\/reading-microfilaments\/","title":{"raw":"Microfilaments","rendered":"Microfilaments"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Describe the structure and function of microfilaments<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1707\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]<img class=\"wp-image-1707\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/110\/2016\/05\/03184656\/Figure_04_05_02.jpg\" alt=\"This illustration shows two actin filaments wound together. Each actin filament is composed of many actin subunits connected together to form a chain.\" width=\"300\" height=\"415\" \/> Figure 1. Microfilaments are made of two intertwined strands of actin.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nOf the three types of protein fibers in the cytoskeleton, <strong>microfilaments<\/strong> are the narrowest. They function in cellular movement, have a diameter of about 7 nm, and are made of two intertwined strands of a globular protein called actin (Figure 1). For this reason, microfilaments are also known as actin filaments.\r\n\r\nActin is powered by ATP to assemble its filamentous form, which serves as a track for the movement of a motor protein called myosin. This enables actin to engage in cellular events requiring motion, such as cell division in animal cells and cytoplasmic streaming, which is the circular movement of the cell cytoplasm in plant cells. Actin and myosin are plentiful in muscle cells. When your actin and myosin filaments slide past each other, your muscles contract.\r\n\r\nMicrofilaments also provide some rigidity and shape to the cell. They can depolymerize (disassemble) and reform quickly, thus enabling a cell to change its shape and move. White blood cells (your body\u2019s infection-fighting cells) make good use of this ability. They can move to the site of an infection and phagocytize the pathogen.\r\n\r\nLook below see an example of a white blood cell in action.\u00a0Watch this\u00a0short time-lapse video of the cell capturing two bacteria. It engulfs one and then moves on to the other. Note that this video has no audio.\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"\/\/plugin.3playmedia.com\/show?ad=1&amp;ad_autoplay=0&amp;ad_default_source_volume_control=0&amp;ad_source_volume_control=0&amp;cc=0&amp;mf=4409431&amp;p3sdk_version=1.10.1&amp;p=20361&amp;pt=573&amp;video_id=AUih856vaQY&amp;video_target=tpm-plugin-d5pryjv1-AUih856vaQY\" width=\"800px\" height=\"500px\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0px\" marginheight=\"0px\"><\/iframe>\r\n\r\nYou can <a href=\"https:\/\/oerfiles.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/WM-BiologyforMajors\/Transcripts\/WhiteBloodCellChasesBaceria_AudioDescription.txt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">view the audio description text for \"White Blood Cell Chases Bacteria\" here (link opens in new window)<\/a>.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/42dd74f3-a17a-4ab6-ba0d-7750e69bc181\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe the structure and function of microfilaments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1707\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1707\" class=\"wp-image-1707\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/110\/2016\/05\/03184656\/Figure_04_05_02.jpg\" alt=\"This illustration shows two actin filaments wound together. Each actin filament is composed of many actin subunits connected together to form a chain.\" width=\"300\" height=\"415\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1707\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 1. Microfilaments are made of two intertwined strands of actin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Of the three types of protein fibers in the cytoskeleton, <strong>microfilaments<\/strong> are the narrowest. They function in cellular movement, have a diameter of about 7 nm, and are made of two intertwined strands of a globular protein called actin (Figure 1). For this reason, microfilaments are also known as actin filaments.<\/p>\n<p>Actin is powered by ATP to assemble its filamentous form, which serves as a track for the movement of a motor protein called myosin. This enables actin to engage in cellular events requiring motion, such as cell division in animal cells and cytoplasmic streaming, which is the circular movement of the cell cytoplasm in plant cells. Actin and myosin are plentiful in muscle cells. When your actin and myosin filaments slide past each other, your muscles contract.<\/p>\n<p>Microfilaments also provide some rigidity and shape to the cell. They can depolymerize (disassemble) and reform quickly, thus enabling a cell to change its shape and move. White blood cells (your body\u2019s infection-fighting cells) make good use of this ability. They can move to the site of an infection and phagocytize the pathogen.<\/p>\n<p>Look below see an example of a white blood cell in action.\u00a0Watch this\u00a0short time-lapse video of the cell capturing two bacteria. It engulfs one and then moves on to the other. Note that this video has no audio.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/plugin.3playmedia.com\/show?ad=1&amp;ad_autoplay=0&amp;ad_default_source_volume_control=0&amp;ad_source_volume_control=0&amp;cc=0&amp;mf=4409431&amp;p3sdk_version=1.10.1&amp;p=20361&amp;pt=573&amp;video_id=AUih856vaQY&amp;video_target=tpm-plugin-d5pryjv1-AUih856vaQY\" width=\"800px\" height=\"500px\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0px\" marginheight=\"0px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>You can <a href=\"https:\/\/oerfiles.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/WM-BiologyforMajors\/Transcripts\/WhiteBloodCellChasesBaceria_AudioDescription.txt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">view the audio description text for &#8220;White Blood Cell Chases Bacteria&#8221; here (link opens in new window)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_42dd74f3-a17a-4ab6-ba0d-7750e69bc181\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/42dd74f3-a17a-4ab6-ba0d-7750e69bc181?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_42dd74f3-a17a-4ab6-ba0d-7750e69bc181\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-1930\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Biology 2e. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: OpenStax. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/185cbf87-c72e-48f5-b51e-f14f21b5eabd@10.8\">http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/185cbf87-c72e-48f5-b51e-f14f21b5eabd@10.8<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Access for free at https:\/\/openstax.org\/books\/biology-2e\/pages\/1-introduction<\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">All rights reserved content<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>white blood cell chases bacteria. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Brad Cameron. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/AUih856vaQY\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/AUih856vaQY<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>All Rights Reserved<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":12,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Biology 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