Cell Biology Quiz

The Role of Endomembrane System and Cytoskeleton in Cell Function

• The endomembrane system consists of organelles, vesicles, and vacuoles that provide different local environments and facilitate specific metabolic functions.
• Compartmentalization increases the efficiency of subcellular processes by concentrating required components in a confined space within the cell.
• Membranes participate in metabolism with many enzymes built into them, and each compartment within the cell has distinct properties and functions.
• The cytoskeleton provides structural stability to the cytoplasm, supports organelles, and participates in processing cellular information.
• Microtubules, composed of α-tubulin and β-tubulin heterodimers, form protofilaments that align head to tail to form a tube.
• Microtubules can cluster to form a bundle, and their polarity is defined by the direction of net polymerization.
• Microtubules are formed near the nucleus in the centrosome or Microtubules Organizing Center (MTOC), which contains two centrioles and a cloud of pericentriolar material.
• Dynamic instability of microtubules in vivo is regulated by interaction with other proteins, such as microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs).
• Motor proteins, kinesins, and dyneins play essential roles in intracellular transport and spindle apparatus formation and chromosome separation during mitosis and meiosis.
• Microtubules determine cell polarity, and nerve cells have distinct microtubule arrangements and associated MAPs in axons and dendrites.
• Cilia and flagella are made up of microtubules, with a characteristic "9+2" structure in the axoneme and a basal body at the base of a eukaryotic flagellum, which is structurally identical to a centriole.
• Microfilaments are linear polymers of actin subunits that provide structural support, and actin polymerization starts with self-association.

The Role of Endomembrane System and Cytoskeleton in Cell Function

• The endomembrane system consists of organelles, vesicles, and vacuoles that provide different local environments and facilitate specific metabolic functions.
• Compartmentalization increases the efficiency of subcellular processes by concentrating required components in a confined space within the cell.
• Membranes participate in metabolism with many enzymes built into them, and each compartment within the cell has distinct properties and functions.
• The cytoskeleton provides structural stability to the cytoplasm, supports organelles, and participates in processing cellular information.
• Microtubules, composed of α-tubulin and β-tubulin heterodimers, form protofilaments that align head to tail to form a tube.
• Microtubules can cluster to form a bundle, and their polarity is defined by the direction of net polymerization.
• Microtubules are formed near the nucleus in the centrosome or Microtubules Organizing Center (MTOC), which contains two centrioles and a cloud of pericentriolar material.
• Dynamic instability of microtubules in vivo is regulated by interaction with other proteins, such as microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs).
• Motor proteins, kinesins, and dyneins play essential roles in intracellular transport and spindle apparatus formation and chromosome separation during mitosis and meiosis.
• Microtubules determine cell polarity, and nerve cells have distinct microtubule arrangements and associated MAPs in axons and dendrites.
• Cilia and flagella are made up of microtubules, with a characteristic "9+2" structure in the axoneme and a basal body at the base of a eukaryotic flagellum, which is structurally identical to a centriole.
• Microfilaments are linear polymers of actin subunits that provide structural support, and actin polymerization starts with self-association.