Abstract
Intermediate filaments (IF) are the third major component of the cytoskeleton. Cytoplasmic IF are present in nearly all vertebrate cells and the molar amount of these proteins can often surpass that of actin and tubulin. IF have a diameter around 10 to 11nm, a value intermediate between the diameters of F-actin and microtubules. In the past 2 years major progress has been made in understanding the structure of IF, while the characterization of human epidermal keratin mutants has opened a direct way to understand IF function. In addition, analysis of IF proteins from invertebrates has yielded the first clues to IF evolution.
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References
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© 1995 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Weber, K. (1995). Intermediate Filament Proteins: Structure, Function, and Evolution. In: Jockusch, B.M., Mandelkow, E., Weber, K. (eds) The Cytoskeleton. Colloquium der Gesellschaft für Biologische Chemie 14.–16. April 1994 in Mosbach/Baden, vol 45. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79482-7_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79482-7_8
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