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