Question

The phenomenon of “treadmilling” is observed in microfilaments under the __________ state.

(a) steady

(b) isotonic

(c) hypertonic

(d) thermodynamically favorable

The question was asked by my college professor while I was bunking the class.

The question is from Cytoskeleton in chapter Cytoskeleton and Cell Motility of Cell Biology

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

(a) steady

Treadmilling is a dynamic process observed in actin microfilaments (and other filaments like tubulin) where ATP-actin monomers are added to the plus-end of the filament while ADP-actin monomers are lost from the minus-end. This process occurs in a "steady" state, where the filament maintains its overall length while individual subunits continuously exchange.