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