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