Lecture

Intermediate Filaments and Various Functions

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In course

BIO-207: Cellular and molecular biology II

This course is aimed to familiarize students with the 3D organization of a eukaryotic cell, its compartmentalization, how cellular compartments communicate together and how a cell communicates with its environment. The related molecular mechanisms will be ...

Description

This lecture covers the structure and functions of intermediate filaments, which provide mechanical resistance and perform various functions in cells. Topics include the composition of filaments, their role in stiffening the nuclear envelope, and their connection to sites of cell contact. The lecture also discusses the stretchability and durability of intermediate filaments, comparing their assembly to a rope. Additionally, the presentation explores the differences between intermediate filaments, actin, and tubulin proteins, emphasizing the dynamic and adaptable nature of the cytoskeleton. The role of intermediate filaments in providing mechanical resistance to the skin is highlighted, along with a brief overview of the cytoskeleton in bacteria.

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Instructors (3)

Romain Zufferey

Teaching & PhD Courses Biology for engineers MSE-212 This course consists of an introduction to biology and more particularly to biology as a multidisciplinary field, emphasizing natural examples of materials engineering. It should therefore allow engineering students to find inspiration from biology in future materials research problems. Cellular biology and biochemistry for engineers BIO-105 Basic course in biochemistry as well as cellular and molecular biology for non-life

Françoise Gisou van der Goot Grunberg

Gisou van der Goot is the Head of the Laboratory of Cell and Membrane Biology, and founding member of the Global Health Institute (GHI), School of Life Sciences, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne/EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). She is currently Vice President for Responsible Transformation, in charge of reinforcing values such as inclusion and sustainability throughout the School’s campus. From 2014 to 2020, she was Dean of the School of Life Sciences. Before joining EPFL, she was Group Leader at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and subsequently Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the same university. She studied engineering at the Ecole Centrale de Paris, then did a PhD in Molecular Biophysics at the Nuclear Energy Research Center, Saclay, France, followed by a postdoc at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg. She obtained an EMBO Young Investigator award in 2001, a Howard Hughes International Scholar award in 2005 and the Swiss Prix Marcel Benoist in 2009, the same year she was elected EMBO member (European Molecular Biology Organisation). She is a leader in the fields of molecular and cellular understanding of bacterial toxins, the organization of mammalian membranes and in organelles biology. Professor van der Goot is member of diverse scientific boards such as the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), the Conseil suisse de la science et de la technologie (CSST) and the European Research Council (ERC).

Wouter Richard Karthaus

Teaching & PhD PhD Students Jillian Rose Love, Estelle Deby, Ester Simkova, Turan Badalli Courses Cellular and molecular biology II BIO-207 This course is aimed to familiarize students with the 3D organization of a eukaryotic cell, its compartmentalization, how cellular compartments communicate together and how a cell communicates with its environment. The related molecular mechanisms will be discussed. Practical - Karthaus Lab BIO-616 Students will learn 1) how organoids c

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Ontological neighbourhood

Biology

Cell biology: Cell cycle

Related concepts (25)

Nuclear envelope

The nuclear envelope, also known as the nuclear membrane, is made up of two lipid bilayer membranes that in eukaryotic cells surround the nucleus, which encloses the genetic material. The nuclear envelope consists of two lipid bilayer membranes: an inner nuclear membrane and an outer nuclear membrane. The space between the membranes is called the perinuclear space. It is usually about 10–50 nm wide. The outer nuclear membrane is continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum membrane.

Nuclear pore

A nuclear pore is a channel as part of the nuclear pore complex (NPC), a large protein complex found in the nuclear envelope in eukaryotic cells, enveloping the cell nucleus containing DNA, which facilitates the selective membrane transport of various molecules across the membrane. The nuclear pore complex predominantly consists of proteins known as nucleoporins, with each NPC comprising at least 456 individual protein molecules, and 34 distinct nucleoporin proteins.

Nuclear lamina

The nuclear lamina is a dense (~30 to 100 nm thick) fibrillar network inside the nucleus of eukaryote cells. It is composed of intermediate filaments and membrane associated proteins. Besides providing mechanical support, the nuclear lamina regulates important cellular events such as DNA replication and cell division. Additionally, it participates in chromatin organization and it anchors the nuclear pore complexes embedded in the nuclear envelope.

Tubulin

Tubulin in molecular biology can refer either to the tubulin protein superfamily of globular proteins, or one of the member proteins of that superfamily. α- and β-tubulins polymerize into microtubules, a major component of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. Microtubules function in many essential cellular processes, including mitosis. Tubulin-binding drugs kill cancerous cells by inhibiting microtubule dynamics, which are required for DNA segregation and therefore cell division.

Inner nuclear membrane protein

Inner nuclear membrane proteins (INM proteins) are membrane proteins that are embedded in or associated with the inner membrane of the nuclear envelope. There are about 60 INM proteins, most of which are poorly characterized with respect to structure and function. Among the few well-characterized INM proteins are lamin B receptor (LBR), lamina-associated polypeptide 1 (LAP1), lamina-associated polypeptide-2 (LAP2), emerin and MAN1. Several integral nuclear membrane proteins of different size and structure have been identified.

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