Spectrin is an integral part in which of the following intracellular structure(s)?

Which protein is necessary to create the forces that result in the bending movements of cilia and flagella?

Which intracellular process would be primarily disrupted by inhibition of Arp2/3 complexes?

Which type of the anchoring contact is used by the migrating (crawling) fibroblasts?

What is the primary function of tissue fibronectin?

Which of the following extracellular matrix components assembles proteoglycans into the gigantic complexes called proteoglycan aggregates?

Which type of gene mutations confer a selective growth advantage in cancers?

Ninety-five percent of the mutations in tumors are:

A man and his wife are carriers of a gene for sickle cell disease (autosomal recessive inheritance). What is the probability that this couple may have a phenotypically normal child?

A man with porphyria starts a cult which soon increases in number. Many of his descendants were found to have porphyria. A smallpox epidemic soon occurs in the cult. Which one of the following terms best describes this situation?

A female alcoholic presents to the emergency department with confusion and memory loss. She also exhibits rolling of her eyeballs. Her diet consists mainly of canned soup. Lack of which vitamin is most likely to be responsible for her symptoms?

Which vitamin is involved in collagen synthesis?

As a pathologist you would like to make sure that the magenta colored staining result of a cancerous liver specimen with Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) reaction is real. Which enzyme would you use to confirm your positive staining result?

Which of the following antigens is the most immunogenic?

Which multilobed lymphatic organ serves as the place for T cell maturation?

The term redundancy of cytokines means that:

When a cell is infected and presents the antigen of the infection, in which molecule does it present the antigen and which type of cell responds?

Compared to a secondary response, a primary response is:

Which is the most accurate description of the type of organism that a laboratory would try to isolate on MacConkey agar?

The designated purpose of the “A” (bacitracin)-disc is to distinguish:

You suspect that your patient may have an infection. You send a patient sample to the clinical microbiology lab for analysis. The lab cultures an organism on blood agar which is catalase positive. A coagulase test is done next and the result is clumping of the test plasma. The likely cause of this patient’s infection is:

What type of epithelial tissue is normally keratinized?

Which of the tissues/organs listed below is most likely to be lined by transitional epithelium?

Which of the following features does cardiac muscle have in common with skeletal muscle?

A 66-year-old woman has multiple bladder stones and undergoes a cystoscopy. Irregular areas of her bladder mucosa are biopsied and reveal that the normal transitional epithelium has been replaced in areas by mature normal appearing squamous epithelium. What is this process known as?

A pathologist is examining tissue under the microscope and sees an area where the cells are necrotic and the nuclei of the cells are pyknotic and have undergone karyorrhexis and karyolysis. The enzymes responsible for these changes were activated by a molecule which enters the cell because of:

A 4-year-old girl has recurrent acute bacterial infections. During the most recent bout of acute bacterial cellulitis of her arm, caused by Staphylococcus aureus, she has an elevated white blood cell count with an increased percentage of neutrophils in her peripheral blood. A biopsy taken from an area of soft tissue necrosis shows many bacteria but very few neutrophils. An analysis of neutrophil function shows a defect in rolling. Which of the following is most likely to be dysfunctional?

A 20-year-old woman has two days of low grade fever with malaise, cough, and nasal congestion. Physical examination reveals clear breath sounds. A white blood cell count shows mild to moderate elevation in lymphocytes. The most likely etiology for this woman’s condition is:

A 33-year-old morbidly obese man undergoes a colectomy with a large incision because of difficulties during the surgery. During recovery after the surgery, he experiences severe nausea and has an episode of vomiting without fever. Which of the following complications is most likely to be a deterrent in his surgical wound healing?

A 33-year-old woman undergoes successful surgery for a ruptured appendix. Approximately five to seven days post-operatively, the healing skin suture site predominantly contains:

A 37-year-old woman has a Pap smear which is abnormal. A subsequent colposcopy shows a 1 cm flat red area on her cervix which is excised, and is diagnosed as carcinoma-in-situ. This lesion:

A large, bulky retroperitoneal mass is removed from a 58-year-old woman. Microscopic examination reveals no distinct glands, keratin, or other structures and the cells are extremely disorganized. There is marked anaplasia and pleomorphism with increased mitoses, including bizarre mitotic figures. Special stains are needed to make a final diagnosis. This tumor is most likely:

A 69-year-old man has guaiac positive stools and weight loss. He undergoes a colonoscopy and a large ulcerating mass is discovered in his sigmoid colon. A biopsy of the mass reveals invasive, irregular, crowded glands with pleomorphic nuclei. There is invasion into blood vessels and lymphatics. What is the tumor best classified as?

An 8-year-old boy falls on his elbow while running on a sidewalk. He does not sustain an open skin wound but the area first becomes red and then swells up. Pain develops and his mother decides to bring him to the emergency department for an X-ray. Which of the following contributes to the initial redness of the injury?

Which of the following is a signal that mammalian cells use to communicate between themselves?

Beta 2 adrenergic receptor has a Kd of 10-10 M for epinephrine and 10-8 for norepinephrine. This means that:

Which of the following statements is true regarding Cholera toxin and Pertussis toxin?

Which of the following statements is true regarding the second messenger cAMP?

Which of the following statements is true regarding PIP2 (Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate) and PIP3 (Phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate)?

If a healthy adult carries a Robertsonian 21:21 translocation, what is the approximate chance that any of their live-born biological offspring will have Down syndrome?

Which of the following genetic disorders is caused by a chromosomal abnormality usually not detectable on routine karyotype but usually detectable using a specific FISH (Fluorescent In-Situ Hybridization) probe?

A patient taking a particular antiepileptic medication is given an antimicrobial agent that is metabolized by CYP3A4. Because of drug interaction involving CYP3A4, the dose of the antimicrobial is increased, according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. The CYP3A4 inducer is most likely:

An adult with a history of prescription drug abuse presents to the emergency department with signs and symptoms consistent with morphine overdose. The drug’s therapeutic and toxic effects are both related to its activity on specific G protein-coupled receptors. The seriousness of the drug’s toxic effects is proportionately related to the drug concentration. This is an example of:

A cancer patient is given an antineoplastic drug that causes damage to the cancer cells’ DNA which ultimately activates intracellular signaling leading to programmed cell death. This phenomenon is termed:

A patient presenting with a morphine overdose is given a rapid-acting antidote that acts at the same receptors and reverses the effects of the morphine. (Morphine is a mu receptor agonist.) The mechanism of this antidote-agonist drug action is:

A patient’s sputum sample is sent to the microbiology laboratory for culture and susceptibility testing. The pathogen is found to have intermediate resistance to the first-line antibiotic. As a result of this resistance, the drug exhibits reduced:

A pharmaceutical company investigating an experimental antibiotic finds that the drug produces a faster kill rate and more extensive degree of killing as the drug concentrations increase. Additionally, the drug produces prolonged, persistent antibacterial effects. This activity profile is best described by which one of the following?

Which of the following provide glutamatergic input to granule cells?

Cerebellar efferents destined for the right red nucleus exit through which peduncle?

Striatal neurons possessing D1 receptors:

This basal ganglia disorder has a strong genetic component:

Which of the following basal ganglia nuclei receive direct input from the cerebral cortex?

The presence of these neuron-embedded protein aggregations are a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease:

The cell bodies of which neurons are found in the middle layer of the cerebellar cortex?

Primary somatosensory cortex receives direct input from which nuclei?

A lesion to this neural substrate would blunt the sensation of light touch along the left forehead:

Which sensation would be least affected by blocking the activity of myelinated afferent fibers?

Accurate two-point discrimination is dependent on which sensory organ?

Neurons of the corticobulbar tract:

What percentage of pyramidal tract fibers form the ventral corticospinal tract?

Which of the following is characteristic of a lower motor neuron lesion?

What is the lateral-medial representation within primary motor cortex?

A carotid angiogram demonstrates occlusion of the left middle cerebral artery. Based on the location of this occlusion, you expect to see which of the following deficits?

An 8-year-old male is brought in by ambulance to the emergency department after being hit in the head by a fast moving foul ball at a baseball game. He is currently awake and alert, and responds to questions and commands. However, a CT scan of the head shows a collection of blood that does not cross suture lines. The most likely source of this blood is a(n):

A 55-year-old Caucasian male presents to the emergency department with left-sided loss of pain and temperature sensation to the upper and lower limb. While conducting a neurological exam, you also note that his right eye is exhibiting ptosis and miosis. After conducting an MRI, it is verified that the patient has a lesion to the right caudal pons. Which of the following symptoms might this patient also have presented with based on the location of the lesion?

An 80-year-old African American female is brought into the emergency department via ambulance from her nursing home facility. The paramedics activated the advanced care life support protocol for a code stroke based on the patient’s signs and symptoms. Once you begin examining her, you note that she has left-sided hemiparesis, right-sided total facial paralysis, and right-sided conjugate gaze paralysis. Before sending your patient for an MRI you suspect she is suffering from which of the following syndromes?

A patient with receptive aphasia presents to the emergency department. Neuroimaging reveals no injury to Wernicke’s area. What other neural structure might exhibit injury/lesion to produce this clinical presentation?

An unconscious patient presents to the emergency department with left-side parietal lobe injury evident in neuroimaging. Which of the following might a clinician suspect will be present in this patient upon return of consciousness?

Neurons in the neocortex with pyramidal morphology and dendritic spines release which of the following neurotransmitters?

Genetic mutations affecting this cellular process have been implicated in microcephaly?

Which of the following best describes the developmental sequence for neocortical layer IV?

Which of the following best describes the function of the massa intermedia?

Which of the following constitutes the axonal pathway connecting the thalamus and neocortex?

Neurons in the primary auditory cortex project to which of the following thalamic nuclei?

A patient with sudden onset blindness is brought to the emergency department. Imaging of the eye and visual cortex reveals no obvious pathology. The next brain region to examine for possible lesions would include which of the following thalamic nuclei?

Which of the following hypothalamic nuclei is the feeding center of the brain?

Which of the following hormones participates in the short-term control of pre-meal hunger and meal initiation?

Which of the following hypothalamic nuclei is the satiety center of the brain?

A 7-year-old girl presents to your office with severe obesity (body mass index of >40), hyperphagia and metabolic neuroendocrine and immune dysfunction. Sequencing of the ob gene for both the proband and her parents reveals the child to be homozygous for deletion of a single guanine nucleotide in codon 133 of the ob gene reading frame. Based upon these findings, you would suspect the above mutation to be localized to cells of the:

Stringing together unrelated or inappropriate facts, as often seen in patients with chronic alcohol consumption, is known as:

A 42-year-old man is brought to the emergency department from the site of a collapsed building after an earthquake. Suspecting a brain injury, the attending physician orders a CT (computerized tomography) scan. This reveals bilateral damage to rostral aspects of the temporal lobes. After recovering from the initial trauma, this man displays compulsive exploratory behavior around the hospital and repeatedly examines objects by placing them in his mouth. These behavioral aberrations, when correlated with the CT findings, suggest which of the following syndromes?

This clinical condition results from a thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency and is characterized by ocular disturbances and nystagmus, gait ataxia and cognitive deficits. Brain pathology includes lesions to the mammillary nuclei, dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus, periaqueductal gray and pontine tegmentum. What is the name of this condition?

Which of the following nuclei is associated with the neural control of micturition?

Which of the following conditions is a common side effect of opioid medication?

Which of the following brain regions modulates the phenomenon of stimulus-induced analgesia?

A 50-year-old man with a history of severe insomnia presents to the neurology department complaining of bizarre sensations in his legs such as “pulling, searing, crawling and shimmering”. On examination, he is noted to have iron-deficiency anemia. Which of the following diagnoses should you suspect?

Which of the following physical exam findings are clinical features of narcolepsy?

Which of the following neuropeptides plays an essential role in maintaining wakefulness and regulating transitions between sleep and wake cycles?

At what vertebral level can one most easily introduce a needle into the dural sac without piercing the spinal cord?

Which neural structure is located on the ventral medulla?

What neural structure is immediately inferior to the inferior colliculus?

The tonsils belong to what part of the cerebellum?

Impaired temperature and pain sensation from the right leg would result from a lesion to which white matter tract of the spinal cord?

Which is the largest descending tract of the spinal cord?

Which portion of the spinal cord is involved in processing pain information?

Damage to which of the cerebral lobes is likely responsible for the majority of expressive aphasia cases?


Which cortical invagination divides the primary motor cortex from the primary sensory cortex?

Which cerebral lobe controls primary motor movement on the right side of the body?

Which of the following general statements applies to the human brain?

Which process/event initiates the invagination of neuroectodermal tissue and is thereby responsible for the formation of the neural tube?

What defect, most commonly observed in infants, will most likely result from excessive cerebrospinal fluid?

How can genetic defects that specifically affect central and peripheral nervous system cells also affect skin pigmentation?

What distinguishes microglia from all other major resident cell types found in the central nervous system?

Neural signals mediating touch and proprioception are carried by the:

The inferior olivary complex of nuclei:

A patient has pain and temperature loss on the right side of the body, but unaffected movement control. A possible location of the lesion in the brainstem is in:

Of the following, you most suspect that a patient with a localized brainstem injury who complains of loud noise would also:

The medial rectus muscle:

A patient has muscle weakness and intact sensation on the left side of the body. To rule out medial medullary syndrome you test:

An absent bilateral corneal reflex may be due to unilateral injury of:

A lesion in the midbrain will most likely affect:

Each CN XI projects to the:

CN IX affects:

Including facial expression, CN VII also affects:

Cranial nerves involved with muscular control of swallowing include:

The number of cranial nerves projecting directly to each eye is:

Cranial nerve VII is involved with:

Cranial nerve IX is involved with:

The pyramidal decussation:

Which of the following is responsible for the transition between the action potential undershoot and the return of the membrane potential back to rest:

Opening of voltage-gated K+ channels during the action potential is responsible for which of the following?

Which of the following cell types make contact with the brain vasculature?

Which of the following cell types produce myelin insulating axons of the PNS?

Which of the following is an active mechanism that contributes to a hyperpolarized resting membrane potential in neurons?

Which of the following clinical conditions is often associated with the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier?

Which of the following brain sites lacks a blood-brain-barrier?

Significant amounts of serotonin (5-HT)-containing neurons are found in the upper brain stem, particularly in the pons and medulla, areas that are collectively called the:

Which of the following physiological conditions is modulated by the actions of substance P?

Which of the following receptors can modulate the release of neurotransmitters from the same nerve ending?

Which of the following structural brain deficits have been repeatedly reported in patients with schizophrenia?

An expansion of the ventricles due to tissue loss, as in the case of Alzheimer’s disease, is termed:

Which modification of histones is associated with a decrease in transcription?

In an experimental polymerase chain reaction (PCR), 12 out of 25 total cycles have been completed. During the 13th cycle, immediately after a DNA polymerase synthesizes the target DNA sequence on all available DNA templates, which one of the following will occur next?

During DNA replication:

Antibiotics in the quinolone family:

The toxin of the Amanita phalloides mushroom:

What is the definition of an intron?

A 32-year-old man with AIDS (CD4 count is 21/mm3) presents with shortness of breath. Despite treatment with piperacillin-tazobactam, he has progressive respiratory failure and is intubated. Chest radiographs show a diffuse interstitial pneumonia. Silver staining of sputum reveals the presence of irregularly shaped 5 micron organisms that do not grow in the laboratory. This disease is most likely caused by which of the following fungi?

Which of the following diseases is orally acquired and spreads to the central nervous system causing flaccid paralysis mostly in children?

e reverse transcriptase of HIV:

Which is the correct sequence (first to last) of events in viral replication?

Which is the protein shell around the nucleic acid core of a virus?

A 53-year-old man with a renal transplant develops shortness of breath and fevers. His chest radiograph reveals a dense left upper lobe infiltrate. A bronchoscopy with biopsy is performed. The pathologist calls to inform you that encapsulated yeast cells ~5 micrometer (μm) in diameter are present in the biopsy specimen. Which of the following is the cause of this patient’s disease?

Outbreaks of systemic mycoses have been associated with:

Which of the following combination of characteristics apply only to fungi?

Viruses are distinguishable from both bacteria and protozoan parasites because viruses have:

The Rickettsia microbe is a good example of a type of pathogen that:

Which of the following is an accurate description for the pathogen that can cause encephalitis in immunocompromised patients and congenital abnormalities, and can be acquired from contact with infected cat feces?

A widespread infection or disease with high attack rates that includes either high morbidity or mortality rates and occurs worldwide or in a particular region is known as a/an:

Your patient is a 54-year-old man who presents with a fever, cough and chest pain. A sputum sample reveals numerous neutrophils and extracellular gram-positive diplococci. The likely etiologic agent is

A 3-year-old girl presents to the emergency department in severe respiratory distress. She has a fever and difficulty breathing. A gram-negative pathogen is isolated from a respiratory sample which is only culturable on chocolate agar. This clinical scenario could have been prevented if the patient had been immunized with: