microtrabecular, a. Cytol.
(ˌmaɪkrəʊtrəˈbɛkjʊlə(r))
[f. micro- 4 + trabecular a.]
Pertaining to or designating a lattice of very fine filamentous strands of protein believed to permeate the cellular cytoplasm and to control the transport of molecules within a cell.
| 1976 Wolosewick & Porter in Amer. Jrnl. Anat. CXLVII. 307/2 Upon closer inspection, this three-dimensional lattice resembles the trabecular structure of spongy bone. This microscopic trabecular structure, perhaps better referred to as a microtrabecular system (the strands being the trabeculae) or three-dimensional lattice,..is a constant feature in all parts of the cytoplasm. 1980 Sci. Amer. Apr. 135/2 In the first model,..materials are moved passively between the microtrabecular elements of the axoplasm. 1984 Holtzman & Novikoff Cells & Organelles (ed. 3) ii. xi. 289 The overall effect is the integration of the entire cytoplasm into a loosely knit microtrabecular network capable of rapid change and rapid attachment and detachment of the structures linked in it. 1989 Biochim. et Biophys. Acta CMXCIX. 69/2 Clegg's model should be expanded to include microtubules in addition to actin filaments as interacting components of the microtrabecular lattice. |
So ˌmicrotraˈbecula n. (pl. -æ), a constituent filament of the microtrabecular lattice.
| 1976 Wolosewick & Porter in Amer. Jrnl. Anat. CXLVII. 307/1 The fibrous systems are made up of organized bundles of microfilaments,..which are apparently continuous with less organized strands (microtrabeculae) of ground substance, 3–6 nm thick, and with 10-nm filaments. 1977 Jrnl. Cell Biol. LXXV. 556/1 It appears that the microtrabeculae are intimately involved in mediating pigment migration. 1987 Biol. of Cell LX. 60/1 Incubation with anti-actin antiserum of embedment-free sections of the pars intermedia, followed by IgG-conjugated colloidal gold complexes, resulted in labeling by gold particles of the microtrabeculae suspending the secretory granules. |