Biology 103A - Comprehensive / Final Exam (sample exam only) (version 1)

Biology 103A - Professor Kauffman Comprehensive Exam


1. The extracellular matrix is made up of which of the following marcromolecules?
a. carbohydrates
b. triglycerides
c. proteins
d. nucleic acids
e. a and c

2. the Na+/K+ pump:
a. moves more Na+ out of the cell than K+ into the cell
b. is an example of secondary active transport
c. is an example of a symport
d. only exists in cell with excitable membrane 
e. b and c

3. Calcitonin is:
a. released by the parathyroid gland 
b. formed from vit. D by the kidney
c. released by the thyroid gland
d. secreted when blood calcium levels are too high
e. c and d

4. More osteoid is secreted and calcified when:
a. PTH levels rise
b. Calcitriol is secreted 
c. osteoclast activity increases
d. blood calcium levels trigger calcitonin
e. a and b

5. which of the following cells in the skin act as sensory receptors?
a. keratinocytes
b. Langerhan’s cells
c. Melanocytes
d. Merkel cells
e. Fibrocytes

6. the equilibrium potential for an ion is the membrane potential when:
a. there is no net movement of that ion across the membrane 
b. the membrane is impermeable to that ion
c. the electrical gradient on that ion exceeds the concentration gradient 
d. the concentration gradient on that ion exceeds the electrical gradient
e. more ions flow out of the cell then into it

7. which of the following is/are found in both excitable and inexcitable cells?
a. chemically gated channels 
b. k+ leakage channels 
c. voltage gated K+ channels 
d. voltage gated Na+ channels 
e. all of the above

8. Muscle fibers that employ the sliding filament theory for contraction include:
a. skeletal
b. cardiac
c. smooth
d. a and b
e. a, b and c

9. fast glycolytic skeletal muscle fibers:
a. fatigue slowly 
b. fatigue less easily
c. are red in color
d. are richest in glycosomes
e. a and b

10. Acettcholine affects both skeletal muscles and cardiac muscle by:
a. binding nicotinic receptors
b. indirect neurotransmitter mechanisms
c. depolarizing the muscle’s membrane 
d. causing an increase in intracellular K+ levels
e. changing the membrane potential

11. ATP can NOT be formed in skeletal muscles by:
a. transfer of a phosphate from creatine phosphate to ADP
b. oxidative respiration in the mitichondria
c. high enery phosphate released from storage on myoglobin
d. the metabolic breakdown of glycogen by glycolysis and fermentation
e. none, all of the above from ATP

12. which of the following in NOT a role of Ca++?
a. released through voltage gates from the sarcoplasmic reticulum
b. prolongs the duration of the action potential as it enters through voltage gates
c. binds to calmodulin tpermit myosin to bind to actin
d. hyperpolarizes an excitable membrane when chemically actived gates open
e. enters the axon terminal to increase exocytosis of neurotransmitter

13. Glial cells that myleinate CNS axons are:
a. astrocytes
b. satellaite cells
c. ependymal cells
d. microglia
e. oligiodendrocytes

14. Inhibitory synaoses:
a. often are found near the axon hillock 
b. may increase the permeability of the postsynaptic cell to Cl-
c. can only spatially summate with excitatory synapses
d. may increase the permeability of the postsynaptic cell to K+
e. all of the above

15. Which of the following is true of the somactic motor nervous system, but NOT true for the autononmic nervous system?
a. they innervate muscles
b. reflexes are an important part of their function
c. every muscle fiber receives input from only one motor neuron
d. they use Ach as a neurotransmitter
e. none of the above, all are true for both

16. cones in the retina: 
a. are primarily located in the fovea centralis
b. have three different types of opsin
c. hyperpolarize when light acts on rhodopsin
d. b and c
e. a,b and c

17. First order sensory neurons are fond
a. in the ventral gray matter of the spinal cord
b. in the dorsal gray matter of the spinal cord
c. in the dorsal root ganglia 
d. in the autonomic ganglia 
e. in the medulla

18. the left cerebral cortex in most people:
a. control speech 
b. excites muscles on the right side of the body
c. is connected to the right side by the corpus callosum
d. contains Wernicki’s area
e. all of the above

19. Pyramidal neurons of the cortex:
a. end axons to the cerebellum and the spinsl cord
b. are in a primary sensory area 
c. send axons across the corpus callosum to control motor neurons on the other side of the body
d. are part of the limbic system
e. all of the above

20. the hypothalamus 
a. is part of the diencephalons 
b. is important in controlling the pituitary
c. is the thermoregulatory control center
d. is posterior to the optic chiasm
e. all of the above


Fill in the blank

-GAGS -microfilaments -tight junctions -glycocaylx -desmosome
-intermediate filaments -collagen -elastic fibers -gap junctions
-tubulin -Phospholipids -Na+/K+ pump -cholesterol -glucose/Na+ symport


______________the primary fiber in both extracellular matrix

______________moves chromosomes across cell in mitosis and meiosis

______________permit membrane movement such as phagocytosis

______________proteoglycans that form the ground substance of the EMC

______________pervent membrane proteins from migrating and thus polarize the cell

_______________are made of the protein keratin in skin cells

________________sugars bound to membrane phospholipids and proteins

________________a steroid

________________aids in maintaining the normal membrane potential

________________exracellular fibers that enlarge a tissue to be stretchy



Function (State the function of the listed structures and terms)

-Stratum basale of skin
-Chondroblasts in epiphyseal plate
-Sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle
-Myleination of Axon
-Inactivation gate on voltage sensitive Na+ channels
-Graded potential 
-Bipolar neurons of retina 
-Pre-frontal cortex
-Limbic system 
-Negative feedback mechanisms


Short Answers

Use an example of negative feedback mechanisms to explain how homeostasis is maintained by such mechanisms. 

Explain how an action potential is generated starting with the opening of chemically gated ion channels leading to a depolarizing graded potential.