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