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