AP Qs, CH4
If an individual with diabetes consumes food that is high in simple carbohydrates, blood-sugar levels can rise above normal levels. Which of the following questions would provide the best direction for a researcher who wanted to study the impact of abnormally high blood-sugar levels on cellular homeostasis in diabetics?
Does water move from cells into blood vessels more rapidly in diabetics than in nondiabetics when blood-sugar levels are higher than normal?
Cortisol is a hormone produced in response to stress, including starvation, in humans. Which of the following is most likely an immediate effect of a starvation-induced increase in cortisol secretion?
Increased mobilization of fatty acids from fat cells
The diagram above illustrates feedback control as exerted by the hormone thyroxine. Following surgical removal of the thyroid gland, the level of TSH in the blood will increase. Which of the following best explains this increase?
A decrease in thyroxine levels means a loss of inhibition to the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary, leading to increased TSH secretion.
The figure above shows a model of a ligand precursor being cleaved to produce an active ligand that binds to a specific receptor. Which of the following is most likely to reduce the binding of the active ligand to its receptor?
A mutation in the receptor gene that causes a substitution of a charged amino acid for a nonpolar amino acid in the ligand binding site of the receptor
Damaged tissue releases chemicals that activate platelets and stimulate the formation of blood clots. Which of the following predictions about the activity of platelets best describes a positive feedback mechanism?
Activated platelets release chemicals that activate more platelets.
The vertebrate forelimb initially develops in the embryo as a solid mass of tissue. As development progresses, the solid mass near the end of the forelimb is remodeled into individual digits. Which of the following best explains the role of apoptosis in remodeling of the forelimb?
Apoptosis involves the regulated activation of proteins in specific cells of the developing forelimb that leads to the death of those cells.
An antigen can induce an immune response in a host organism. Antigens are targeted by antibodies that are produced by the organism's immune system in response to contact with the antigen. Antibodies are specific to antigens. Many different cell types are involved in immune responses. Which of the following best describes the role of cell-to-cell communication during a response to an invasion of antigens?
Chemicals that are secreted from antigen-presenting cells then activate helper T cells.
Epinephrine is a protein hormone found in many animals. Epinephrine stimulates a signaling pathway that results in the breakdown of glycogen to glucose in the liver cells. Which of the following describes the initial steps in the process whereby epinephrine stimulates glycogen breakdown?
Epinephrine binds to a cell-surface receptor; the activated receptor stimulates production of the second messenger, cAMP
A researcher examining a root tip observes a plant cell with condensed sister chromatids, kinetochores with attached microtubules, and individual chromosomes that are aligned at the equatorial plate of the cell. Which of the following best describes what the next process will be in the cell?
Paired chromatids will separate, and the new daughter chromosomes will move toward opposite poles of the cell.
Vertebrate immune responses involve communication over short and long distances. Which of the following statements best helps explain how cell surface proteins, such as MHC proteins and T cell receptors, mediate cell communication over short distances?
The proteins interact directly with proteins on the surfaces of other cells.
Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) is important in maintaining homeostasis in mammals. ADH is released from the hypothalamus in response to high tissue osmolarity. In response to ADH, the collecting duct and distal tubule in the kidney become more permeable to water, which increases water reabsorption into the capillaries. The amount of hormone released is controlled by a negative feedback loop. Based on the model presented, which of the following statements expresses the proper relationship between osmolarity, ADH release, and urine production?
As tissue osmolarity rises, more ADH is released, causing less water to be excreted as urine.
Ethylene is an organic compound produced by ripening fruits. In a controlled experiment, researchers found that ethylene gas stimulated the ripening process in newly harvested fruits. Which of the following describes the most likely connection between natural ethylene production and fruit ripening?
Ethylene gas is a chemical signal through which ripening fruits trigger the ripening process in other fruits.
The brain coordinates the circulatory and respiratory systems of the human body. The control of breathing, for example, involves neural pathways among the structures represented in the figure above. One important stimulus in the control of breathing is an increase in blood CO2 concentration, which is detected as a decrease in blood pH. Which of the following best describes the physiological response to an overall increase in cellular respiration in the body?
In response to low blood pH, the pH sensors send a signal to the brain, which then sends a signal to the diaphragm, resulting in an increased rate of breathing to help eliminate excess blood CO2 .
Ethylene causes fruits to ripen. In a signaling pathway, receptors activate transcription factors, which ultimately leads to ripening. Which of the following best supports the claim that ethylene initiates the signal transduction pathway that leads to ripening of fruit?
Loss-of-function mutations in ethylene receptors result in changes to the ripening process.
Which of the following hypotheses is best supported by the results of this experiment?
Metabolic rate per gram of tissue is higher in smaller mammals.
Cell communication is critical for the function of both unicellular and multicellular eukaryotes. Which of the following is likely true of cell signaling?
Similar cell signaling pathways in diverse eukaryotes are evidence of conserved evolutionary processes.
In flowering plants, plasmodesmata are narrow channels through cell walls that connect the cytoplasms of adjacent cells. An explanation of how plant cells communicate across cell walls will most likely refer to the diffusion through plasmodesmata of which of the following?
Small, water-soluble molecules
A student claims that the Y chromosome contains the sex-determining region gene, known as the SRY gene, which causes male fetuses to develop testes. Which of the following provides correct information about cell signaling that supports the claim?
The SRYSRY gene produces a protein that binds to specific regions of DNA in certain tissues, which affects the development of these tissues.
Which of the following statements best describes how a growth factor stimulates cell division from outside a cell?
The growth factor binds to receptors on the cell surface, initiating a signal transduction pathway that activates specific target genes.
Trypsinogen is split by the enzyme enterokinase to form an activated molecule of the protease trypsin. Which of the following would confirm that the activation of trypsin is an example of how a positive feedback mechanism can amplify a biological process?
The trypsin produced by the reaction is capable of splitting and activating additional trypsinogen molecules.
Within the cell, many chemical reactions that, by themselves, require energy input (have a positive free-energy change) can occur because the reactions
may be coupled to the hydrolysis of ATP
Which of the following diagrams best represents hormone-activated gene expression?
steroid hormone, translation, transcription
The endocrine system incorporates feedback mechanisms that maintain homeostasis. Which of the following demonstrates negative feedback by the endocrine system?
After a meal, blood glucose levels become elevated, stimulating beta cells of the pancreas to release insulin into the blood. Excess glucose is then converted to glycogen in the liver, reducing blood glucose levels.
Type 1 diabetes results from the destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Individuals with type 1 diabetes produce insufficient amounts of insulin, a hormone that regulates the concentration of glucose in the blood. Which of the following best explains how treatment with a drug that stimulates the production of insulin receptors on target cells will affect the insulin signaling pathway in an individual with type 1 diabetes?
The drug will have little or no effect on the signaling pathway because the receptors will not be activated in the absence of insulin.
