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