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.