Cytoskeleton Flashcards: Fibers, Motors & Functions
Practice cytoskeletal fibers, motor tracks, cell division, and ciliary patterns with 50 English flashcards and short checks for ambiguous clues.
حول هذه الرزمة
Practice cytoskeleton structure and function with 50 English flashcards for secondary and introductory-college biology. The focus is on telling actin filaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments apart, then applying those distinctions to motors, cell structures, and short reasoning prompts. Basic cell knowledge is helpful; the cell organelle flashcards cover that prerequisite.
The cards map filament names to building proteins and structural properties, selected protein or shape clues back to filament families, motor names to tracks and specified travel directions, and named cell structures to their cytoskeletal components. Short error checks distinguish a fiber from its building protein or motor. Other prompts ask what information is missing when support, movement, cell division, vesicle transport, or ATP use does not identify a unique answer.
Start with the three filament families, their assembly, and polarity. Motor tracks and ATP use lead into the actin cortex, microvilli, keratins, nuclear lamins, the spindle, and the animal-cell contractile ring. Basic ciliary architecture and selected motor-direction exceptions then support the final mixed distinctions. Selected reverse prompts and related variants are separated; the review scheduler handles longer-term spacing. Every card carries the cytoskeleton tag.
This is text-based recall practice. It does not test diagram or micrograph identification. Exhaustive reverse cards, arbitrary name-to-example lists, exact filament diameters, detailed motor families, clinical diagnosis, drug treatment, bacterial cytoskeletons, and molecular regulation pathways are excluded to keep the deck focused. Typical ciliary patterns are taught with exceptions, not as universal motility rules. No complete biology course or examination alignment is claimed.
The questions, explanations, sequence, and metadata were written independently with AI assistance. Scientific facts were checked against research publications on cytoskeletal interactions and intermediate filaments, microtubule dynamics, motor proteins, microvilli, animal-cell cytokinesis, actin assembly, cell protrusion, motile cilia, and primary cilia. Source wording, exercises, and diagrams were not copied; those publications retain their own licenses, and scientific facts are not claimed as proprietary. Original material and the AI-generated decorative cover are dedicated under CC0 1.0 to the extent applicable rights exist. The cover is an abstract illustration, not a molecular diagram. This is independent study material without institutional endorsement.
بطاقات هذه الرزمة
البطاقة ١
السؤال
What are the three major cytoskeletal filament families in animal cells?
الإجابة
Actin filaments (microfilaments), microtubules, and intermediate filaments.
البطاقة ٢
السؤال
Which protein builds microfilaments?
الإجابة
Actin.
البطاقة ٣
السؤال
Which two tubulin subunits pair to build microtubules?
الإجابة
Alpha-tubulin and beta-tubulin. Each building unit is an alpha–beta tubulin dimer.
البطاقة ٤
السؤال
Do all intermediate filaments use the same building protein?
الإجابة
No. Different cells use different intermediate-filament proteins, such as keratins, vimentin, and nuclear lamins.
البطاقة ٥
السؤال
What does filament polarity mean in the cytoskeleton?
الإجابة
The two ends have different molecular structures. Plus and minus label distinct ends, not electrical charges.
البطاقة ٦
السؤال
What is the basic shape of an actin filament?
الإجابة
Two intertwined strands of actin subunits. It is a thin filament, not a hollow tube.
البطاقة ٧
السؤال
Which major cytoskeletal filament forms a hollow tube?
الإجابة
A microtubule.
البطاقة ٨
السؤال
Which major cytoskeletal filament has a rope-like assembly of fibrous proteins?
الإجابة
An intermediate filament.
البطاقة ٩
السؤال
Which cytoskeletal filament is the track for myosin motors?
الإجابة
An actin filament.
البطاقة ١٠
السؤال
Which major cytoskeletal filament family lacks distinct plus and minus ends?
الإجابة
Intermediate filaments. Actin filaments and microtubules are polar.
البطاقة ١١
السؤال
What directly powers the stepping of myosin, kinesin, and dynein motors?
الإجابة
ATP hydrolysis.
البطاقة ١٢
السؤال
Which two motor-protein families move along microtubules?
الإجابة
Kinesins and dyneins.
البطاقة ١٣
السؤال
Which filament network is especially prominent in the cortex just beneath an animal cell’s plasma membrane?
الإجابة
Actin filaments. The cortex helps control cell shape and surface mechanics.
البطاقة ١٤
السؤال
Keratin networks belong to which cytoskeletal filament family?
الإجابة
Intermediate filaments.
البطاقة ١٥
السؤال
What is microtubule dynamic instability?
الإجابة
Switching between growth and shrinkage. A microtubule can change length as tubulin subunits are added or lost.
البطاقة ١٦
السؤال
A cargo moves by kinesin along a microtubule. Which component is the motor?
الإجابة
Kinesin. The microtubule is the track.
البطاقة ١٧
السؤال
Which filaments form the supporting bundles inside microvilli?
الإجابة
Actin filaments.
البطاقة ١٨
السؤال
Which proteins form the nuclear lamina beneath the inner nuclear membrane?
الإجابة
Lamins, members of the intermediate-filament protein family.
البطاقة ١٩
السؤال
Which cytoskeletal filaments form the mitotic spindle?
الإجابة
Microtubules. Spindle microtubules help organize and separate chromosomes.
البطاقة ٢٠
السؤال
Cytoplasmic dynein carries cargo toward which end of a microtubule?
الإجابة
The minus end.
البطاقة ٢١
السؤال
Which filament and motor form the main contractile machinery of the animal-cell cleavage ring?
الإجابة
Actin filaments and myosin II.
البطاقة ٢٢
السؤال
How can actin assembly help a crawling cell extend its leading edge?
الإجابة
Growing actin filaments can push the plasma membrane outward.
البطاقة ٢٣
السؤال
Which filaments form the axoneme, the internal framework of eukaryotic cilia and flagella?
الإجابة
Microtubules.
البطاقة ٢٤
السؤال
Conventional kinesin-1 carries cargo toward which end of a microtubule?
الإجابة
The plus end.
البطاقة ٢٥
السؤال
What mechanical role do intermediate-filament networks provide when a cell is stretched?
الإجابة
They help distribute tensile stress and resist damage from stretching.
البطاقة ٢٦
السؤال
In an animal-cell contractile ring, is myosin II a motor or an actin building subunit?
الإجابة
A motor. Actin supplies the filament subunits.
البطاقة ٢٧
السؤال
What does the typical 9 + 2 pattern of an airway motile cilium describe?
الإجابة
Nine outer microtubule doublets around two central single microtubules.
البطاقة ٢٨
السؤال
Does the name kinesin alone guarantee plus-end-directed movement?
الإجابة
No. Kinesin families differ; some move toward minus ends. Specify the kinesin type before assigning a direction.
البطاقة ٢٩
السؤال
How do the core filaments of microvilli differ from those of eukaryotic cilia?
الإجابة
Microvilli have actin bundles; cilia have a microtubule-based axoneme.
البطاقة ٣٠
السؤال
The nuclear lamina is built from which major filament family?
الإجابة
Intermediate filaments, specifically lamins.
البطاقة ٣١
السؤال
In animal-cell division, which structure constricts the cell surface: the spindle or the contractile ring?
الإجابة
The contractile ring. Its actin–myosin machinery narrows the cleavage furrow.
البطاقة ٣٢
السؤال
What is a common role of a non-motile primary cilium?
الإجابة
Sensing and coordinating signals. It acts as a specialized signaling compartment.
البطاقة ٣٣
السؤال
Which motor family drives sliding between neighboring microtubule doublets in a motile cilium?
الإجابة
Axonemal dyneins. Structural constraints convert that sliding into bending.
البطاقة ٣٤
السؤال
Does vesicle transport by itself identify a microtubule track?
الإجابة
No. Vesicles can use microtubules or actin-based transport. The motor identity or filament composition supplies a better clue.
البطاقة ٣٥
السؤال
A prompt asks for the filament family containing keratin. Is keratin alone the requested answer?
الإجابة
No. Answer intermediate filaments. Keratin names a building protein, not the filament family.
البطاقة ٣٦
السؤال
What microtubule pattern is commonly used to describe a primary cilium?
الإجابة
The 9 + 0 pattern: nine outer doublets without a central pair. It is a typical description, not a universal rule for every cross-section.
البطاقة ٣٧
السؤال
A filament is assembled from alpha–beta tubulin dimers. Which filament family is it?
الإجابة
Microtubules.
البطاقة ٣٨
السؤال
What does the centrosome do for microtubules in many animal cells?
الإجابة
It acts as a microtubule-organizing center, helping nucleate and organize the microtubule array.
البطاقة ٣٩
السؤال
A vesicle is moved by myosin. Which filament supplies its track?
الإجابة
Actin. Myosin-based cargo transport uses actin filaments.
البطاقة ٤٠
السؤال
Why can’t a 9 + 0 axoneme alone establish that a cilium is non-motile?
الإجابة
Motile embryonic nodal cilia are a counterexample. Arrangement alone does not establish motility.
البطاقة ٤١
السؤال
What extra clue would help identify a fiber described only as supporting cell shape?
الإجابة
Its protein composition or a specific structure it forms. All three major filament systems contribute to cell mechanics.
البطاقة ٤٢
السؤال
Why is the claim that all intermediate filaments lie in the cytoplasm incorrect?
الإجابة
Lamins form the nuclear lamina inside the nucleus.
البطاقة ٤٣
السؤال
In a 9 + 2 axoneme, does the 9 count nine individual microtubules?
الإجابة
No. It counts nine outer doublets. The central 2 counts two single microtubules.
البطاقة ٤٤
السؤال
An ATP-powered motor uses either actin or microtubules. What missing information would identify its track?
الإجابة
The motor family. Myosins use actin; kinesins and dyneins use microtubules. ATP use alone does not distinguish them.
البطاقة ٤٥
السؤال
What missing detail would distinguish fibers described only as helping animal-cell division?
الإجابة
The division structure or step. Spindle fibers are microtubules; the contractile ring contains actin.
البطاقة ٤٦
السؤال
A student says microvilli are miniature cilia because both project from the cell. What core-filament correction is needed?
الإجابة
Microvilli are supported by actin bundles; cilia have a microtubule-based core. Surface shape alone does not make them the same structure.
البطاقة ٤٧
السؤال
In microtubule-based transport, how does the filament’s role differ from the motor’s?
الإجابة
The microtubule supplies a track; kinesin or dynein supplies motor activity.
البطاقة ٤٨
السؤال
What extra detail is needed to identify a cytoskeletal system described only as enabling cell movement?
الإجابة
The type of movement. Actin supports crawling; microtubules and dyneins support ciliary or flagellar motion.
البطاقة ٤٩
السؤال
Is it accurate to say that microtubules have no role in animal-cell cytokinesis because the ring uses actin?
الإجابة
No. Microtubules also help coordinate cytokinesis, including positioning and organizing the division machinery.
البطاقة ٥٠
السؤال
Is the cytoskeleton a permanent, unchanging scaffold?
الإجابة
No. Its filaments and networks can assemble, disassemble, and reorganize as the cell’s needs change.
٥٠ بطاقة
Cytoskeleton Flashcards: Fibers, Motors & Functions
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