MICROFILAMENT

Size:

• 8 nm in diameter
  

Location:

• underneath the plasma membrane
  

Function:

As part of the cellular cytoskeleton, the main function of microfilaments is to aid the cell in its motility, both intracellular and extracellular. Intracellular motility includes the movement of vesicles throughout the cell, the movement of organelles through the cytoplasm, and such complex processes as phagocytosis, which is the uptake of materials from outside the cell, and cytokinesis, the process of cell division in mitosis.

Related Organelles: Microtubules