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.
Om denne bunke
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.
Kort i denne bunke
Kort 1
Spørgsmål
What are the three major cytoskeletal filament families in animal cells?
Svar
Actin filaments (microfilaments), microtubules, and intermediate filaments.
Kort 2
Spørgsmål
Which protein builds microfilaments?
Svar
Actin.
Kort 3
Spørgsmål
Which two tubulin subunits pair to build microtubules?
Svar
Alpha-tubulin and beta-tubulin. Each building unit is an alpha–beta tubulin dimer.
Kort 4
Spørgsmål
Do all intermediate filaments use the same building protein?
Svar
No. Different cells use different intermediate-filament proteins, such as keratins, vimentin, and nuclear lamins.
Kort 5
Spørgsmål
What does filament polarity mean in the cytoskeleton?
Svar
The two ends have different molecular structures. Plus and minus label distinct ends, not electrical charges.
Kort 6
Spørgsmål
What is the basic shape of an actin filament?
Svar
Two intertwined strands of actin subunits. It is a thin filament, not a hollow tube.
Kort 7
Spørgsmål
Which major cytoskeletal filament forms a hollow tube?
Svar
A microtubule.
Kort 8
Spørgsmål
Which major cytoskeletal filament has a rope-like assembly of fibrous proteins?
Svar
An intermediate filament.
Kort 9
Spørgsmål
Which cytoskeletal filament is the track for myosin motors?
Svar
An actin filament.
Kort 10
Spørgsmål
Which major cytoskeletal filament family lacks distinct plus and minus ends?
Svar
Intermediate filaments. Actin filaments and microtubules are polar.
Kort 11
Spørgsmål
What directly powers the stepping of myosin, kinesin, and dynein motors?
Svar
ATP hydrolysis.
Kort 12
Spørgsmål
Which two motor-protein families move along microtubules?
Svar
Kinesins and dyneins.
Kort 13
Spørgsmål
Which filament network is especially prominent in the cortex just beneath an animal cell’s plasma membrane?
Svar
Actin filaments. The cortex helps control cell shape and surface mechanics.
Kort 14
Spørgsmål
Keratin networks belong to which cytoskeletal filament family?
Svar
Intermediate filaments.
Kort 15
Spørgsmål
What is microtubule dynamic instability?
Svar
Switching between growth and shrinkage. A microtubule can change length as tubulin subunits are added or lost.
Kort 16
Spørgsmål
A cargo moves by kinesin along a microtubule. Which component is the motor?
Svar
Kinesin. The microtubule is the track.
Kort 17
Spørgsmål
Which filaments form the supporting bundles inside microvilli?
Svar
Actin filaments.
Kort 18
Spørgsmål
Which proteins form the nuclear lamina beneath the inner nuclear membrane?
Svar
Lamins, members of the intermediate-filament protein family.
Kort 19
Spørgsmål
Which cytoskeletal filaments form the mitotic spindle?
Svar
Microtubules. Spindle microtubules help organize and separate chromosomes.
Kort 20
Spørgsmål
Cytoplasmic dynein carries cargo toward which end of a microtubule?
Svar
The minus end.
Kort 21
Spørgsmål
Which filament and motor form the main contractile machinery of the animal-cell cleavage ring?
Svar
Actin filaments and myosin II.
Kort 22
Spørgsmål
How can actin assembly help a crawling cell extend its leading edge?
Svar
Growing actin filaments can push the plasma membrane outward.
Kort 23
Spørgsmål
Which filaments form the axoneme, the internal framework of eukaryotic cilia and flagella?
Svar
Microtubules.
Kort 24
Spørgsmål
Conventional kinesin-1 carries cargo toward which end of a microtubule?
Svar
The plus end.
Kort 25
Spørgsmål
What mechanical role do intermediate-filament networks provide when a cell is stretched?
Svar
They help distribute tensile stress and resist damage from stretching.
Kort 26
Spørgsmål
In an animal-cell contractile ring, is myosin II a motor or an actin building subunit?
Svar
A motor. Actin supplies the filament subunits.
Kort 27
Spørgsmål
What does the typical 9 + 2 pattern of an airway motile cilium describe?
Svar
Nine outer microtubule doublets around two central single microtubules.
Kort 28
Spørgsmål
Does the name kinesin alone guarantee plus-end-directed movement?
Svar
No. Kinesin families differ; some move toward minus ends. Specify the kinesin type before assigning a direction.
Kort 29
Spørgsmål
How do the core filaments of microvilli differ from those of eukaryotic cilia?
Svar
Microvilli have actin bundles; cilia have a microtubule-based axoneme.
Kort 30
Spørgsmål
The nuclear lamina is built from which major filament family?
Svar
Intermediate filaments, specifically lamins.
Kort 31
Spørgsmål
In animal-cell division, which structure constricts the cell surface: the spindle or the contractile ring?
Svar
The contractile ring. Its actin–myosin machinery narrows the cleavage furrow.
Kort 32
Spørgsmål
What is a common role of a non-motile primary cilium?
Svar
Sensing and coordinating signals. It acts as a specialized signaling compartment.
Kort 33
Spørgsmål
Which motor family drives sliding between neighboring microtubule doublets in a motile cilium?
Svar
Axonemal dyneins. Structural constraints convert that sliding into bending.
Kort 34
Spørgsmål
Does vesicle transport by itself identify a microtubule track?
Svar
No. Vesicles can use microtubules or actin-based transport. The motor identity or filament composition supplies a better clue.
Kort 35
Spørgsmål
A prompt asks for the filament family containing keratin. Is keratin alone the requested answer?
Svar
No. Answer intermediate filaments. Keratin names a building protein, not the filament family.
Kort 36
Spørgsmål
What microtubule pattern is commonly used to describe a primary cilium?
Svar
The 9 + 0 pattern: nine outer doublets without a central pair. It is a typical description, not a universal rule for every cross-section.
Kort 37
Spørgsmål
A filament is assembled from alpha–beta tubulin dimers. Which filament family is it?
Svar
Microtubules.
Kort 38
Spørgsmål
What does the centrosome do for microtubules in many animal cells?
Svar
It acts as a microtubule-organizing center, helping nucleate and organize the microtubule array.
Kort 39
Spørgsmål
A vesicle is moved by myosin. Which filament supplies its track?
Svar
Actin. Myosin-based cargo transport uses actin filaments.
Kort 40
Spørgsmål
Why can’t a 9 + 0 axoneme alone establish that a cilium is non-motile?
Svar
Motile embryonic nodal cilia are a counterexample. Arrangement alone does not establish motility.
Kort 41
Spørgsmål
What extra clue would help identify a fiber described only as supporting cell shape?
Svar
Its protein composition or a specific structure it forms. All three major filament systems contribute to cell mechanics.
Kort 42
Spørgsmål
Why is the claim that all intermediate filaments lie in the cytoplasm incorrect?
Svar
Lamins form the nuclear lamina inside the nucleus.
Kort 43
Spørgsmål
In a 9 + 2 axoneme, does the 9 count nine individual microtubules?
Svar
No. It counts nine outer doublets. The central 2 counts two single microtubules.
Kort 44
Spørgsmål
An ATP-powered motor uses either actin or microtubules. What missing information would identify its track?
Svar
The motor family. Myosins use actin; kinesins and dyneins use microtubules. ATP use alone does not distinguish them.
Kort 45
Spørgsmål
What missing detail would distinguish fibers described only as helping animal-cell division?
Svar
The division structure or step. Spindle fibers are microtubules; the contractile ring contains actin.
Kort 46
Spørgsmål
A student says microvilli are miniature cilia because both project from the cell. What core-filament correction is needed?
Svar
Microvilli are supported by actin bundles; cilia have a microtubule-based core. Surface shape alone does not make them the same structure.
Kort 47
Spørgsmål
In microtubule-based transport, how does the filament’s role differ from the motor’s?
Svar
The microtubule supplies a track; kinesin or dynein supplies motor activity.
Kort 48
Spørgsmål
What extra detail is needed to identify a cytoskeletal system described only as enabling cell movement?
Svar
The type of movement. Actin supports crawling; microtubules and dyneins support ciliary or flagellar motion.
Kort 49
Spørgsmål
Is it accurate to say that microtubules have no role in animal-cell cytokinesis because the ring uses actin?
Svar
No. Microtubules also help coordinate cytokinesis, including positioning and organizing the division machinery.
Kort 50
Spørgsmål
Is the cytoskeleton a permanent, unchanging scaffold?
Svar
No. Its filaments and networks can assemble, disassemble, and reorganize as the cell’s needs change.
50 kort
Cytoskeleton Flashcards: Fibers, Motors & Functions
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