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