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