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In cell biology, microtrabeculae were a hypothesised fourth element of the cytoskeleton (the other three being microfilaments, microtubules and intermediate filaments), proposed by Keith Porter based on images obtained from high-voltage electron microscopy of whole cells in the 1970s. The images showed short, filamentous structures of unknown molecular composition associated with known cytoplasmic structures. It is now generally accepted that microtrabeculae are nothing more than an artifact of certain types of fixation treatment, although the complexity of the cell's cytoskeleton is not yet fully understood.
References
- Wolosewick JJ, Porter KR (Jul 1979). "Microtrabecular lattice of the cytoplasmic ground substance. Artifact or reality". The Journal of Cell Biology. 82 (1): 114–39. doi:10.1083/jcb.82.1.114. PMC 2110423. PMID 479294.
- Heuser J (Dec 2002). "Whatever happened to the 'microtrabecular concept'?". Biology of the Cell. 94 (9): 561–96. doi:10.1016/S0248-4900(02)00013-8. PMID 12732437. S2CID 45792524.
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