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