microtubulelike
Microtubulelike is a descriptive term used in biology to refer to structures or polymers that resemble microtubules in their overall morphology, assembly mechanism, or functional role, even if they are not canonical eukaryotic microtubules. The term is applied to both naturally occurring polymers built from tubulin or tubulin-like proteins and to synthetic or convergently evolved filaments that mimic microtubule behavior.
In classical microtubules, subunits are α- and β-tubulin forming hollow tubes about 25 nanometers in diameter with
In addition to natural examples, researchers describe synthetic or engineered polymers as microtubule-like when they exhibit
As a descriptive term, microtubulelike does not denote a formal classification, and its exact meaning can vary