AAMC Biology Analysis

AAMC Full Length 3: 56 / 59 (132)

1) W = Fd
2) Reading comprehension.
3) Anaerobic metabolism doesn’t produce ETC
4) W = Fd graphically
5) Slow-twitch fibers are adapted for aerobic exercise, which suggests that they ae likely, relative to fast-twitch
fibers, to have increased capillary density, larger numbers of mitochondria, and higher levels of oxygen
binding proteins. Fast twitch fibers will have greater Ca2+ pumping capacities.
6) Autosomal dominant only makes it possible for two affected individuals to have affected and unaffected
children.
7) Simple DNA sequence analysis
8) Amino acids
9) Disulfide bonds = C, Cys, Cysteine
10) Convergent evolution = process whereby distantly related organisms independently evolve similar traits to
adapt similar needs (dolphin and shark)
11) Random X inactivation
12) GnRH = reproductive axis
13) Helicase unzips genes
14) Passage reasoning
15) Protease = hydrolase
16) Apoptotic signaling most likely leads to growth arrest
17) Inhibition of apoptosis is a characteristic of cancer cells
18) Operon containing two genes in prokaryotic cells is transcribed from a single promoter upstream of the first
gene in the operon
19) Increase in intracellular calcium levels results in enhancement of contractile force
20) Primary active transport
21) Incorrect. Complete mistake. However, it was tricky. Dihidroxin (reduced form), not Digoxin—making the
answer the opposite of what you chose. Always read the full question.
22) 3 Na out, 2 K in
23) Data analysis
24) Amino Acid structure
25) Histone acetylation typically promotes transcription by modifying chromatin structure, decreaseing its
condensation.
26) Fasting leads to glycogen breakdown and gluconeogenesis, then continued fasting leads to the production of
ketone bodies by sustained fatty acid oxidation.
27) Amino acids
28) Data analysis
29) Adrenal medulla is part of the sympathetic branch only.
30) Allosteric inhibition.
31) Krebs cycle
32) Higher concentration of solutes = higher osmotic pressure
33) lactic acid fermentation
34) Phosphoglucose isomerase is an enzyme involved in glycolysis
35) Data analysis
36) In western blotting, tubulin is used as a control to assess the total protein level in different samples.
Tubulin, a cytoskeletal protein, is stable under most conditions.
37) Restriction enzymes bind to palindromic sequences
38) Succinate dehydrogenase is known as complex II in the electron transport chain.
39) Knowledge of enzymes in TCA
40) Incorrect. Lack of knowledge. Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon that causes genes to be
expressed in a manner specific to their parent of origin. It is an inheritance process independent of the classical
Mendelian inheritance. It is an epigenetic process that involves DNA methylation and histone methylation
without altering the genetic sequence. These epigenetic marks are established (“Imprinted”) in the germline of
the parents and are maintained through mitotic divisions in the somatic cells of an organism. Also note that even
though this is passed in a parent specific manner through the father, it does not mean that it’s a Y-linked gene,
since females have it too.
41) Basic reasoning
42) Basic reasoning
43) Basic graph reading
44) Basic graph reading
45) Incorrect. I really don’t know what I was thinking. RNA viruses replicate themselves by having a code for
or carrying a transcriptase that copies viral RNA.
46) Glomerular capillaries prevents the entry of large molecules, such as proteins, into the filtrate.
47) The optimum temperature for enzymes is normally 37oC (body temperature). However, the optimum pH
value varies greatly from one enzyme to another.
48) Epithelial cells are specialized cells for secretion and are present in the respiratory tract.
49) Super easy – SSRI’s
50) basic reasoning
51) Basic reasoning.
52) Basic reasoning SSRI’s. These last questions are very hard to miss.
53) Villi atrophy = decrease in the surface area of the small intestine = decrease in nutrient absorption
54) Osmotic pressure
55) Excess of unabsorbed fats in the intestines inhibits normal water and electrolyte absorption, resulting in
increased osmotic pressure and diarrhea
56) Osteoblasts function to build and repair bone, osteoclasts break down bone.
57) Feedback inhibition
58) Competitive inhibition
59) Bowman’s capsule  proximal tubule  loop of Henle  distal tubule  collecting duct

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1) Passage comprehension, transcription
2) Gastrointestinal tract epithelial cells are highly proliferative
3) Phosphodiester bonds link the 3’ carbon atom of the deoxyribose and the 5’ carbon atom of another
deoxyribose within the DNA molecules
4) dimer of pyrmidine
5) Basic equation reading
6) Cysteine contains a sulfhydryl – passage comprehension
7) Passage comprehension
8) A little unsure. Studying the complexes all together would lead to erroneous results because inhibition of
complexes I and II affects the activity of complex II, which affects the activity of complex IV
9) When a macrophage ingests foreign material, the material initially becomes trapped in a phagosome. It then
fuses with a lysosome to form a phagolysosome. Inside this, enzymes digest the foreign object.
10) ATP downregulates feedback inhibition the activity of phosphofructokinase-1 by binding to a regulatory
site other than the active site of the enzyme
11) Easy graph reading – active transport
12) Blocking potassium ion channels would prolong the action potential
13) Isoelectric point of 9 = positive charge at pH of 7
14) Proteins that activates transcription factors have nuclear localization sequence
15) Ubiquination targets a protein for degradation by a proteasome
16) Transmembrane domains have high proportion of hydrophobic residues
17) Disulfide bonds = between thiol groups of cysteine residues
18) Detergent exposes hydrophobic residues toward the surface
19) Graph reading
20) Incorrect. Was unsure. But your thinking was ridiculous. The bacteria doesn’t “Clear out the cell,” it just
pokes holes in the membrane—much more reasonable answer
21) GAPDH catalyzes the conversion of glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate to 1,3 bisphosphoglycerate (named for the
substrate)
22) Graph reading
23) Incorrect. Oversight. Posttranslational modification of proteins such as histone acetylation is analyzed by
Western blotting
24) Reasoning about design of research
25) Vasopressin regulates the fusion of aquaporins with the apical membranes of the collecting duct epithelial
cells
26) Schwann cells are the myelin-forming cells in the peripheral nervous system
27) Simple calculation
28) A prion is an infectious protein
29) Blood from small intestine is transported first to the liver, which regulates nutrient distribution and removes
toxins from the blood
30) As bacteria becomes resistant to antibiotics, it becomes less effective
31) Heterozygotes
32) Passage comprehension
33) Experiment design
34) Passage reading
35) Reasoning – NPY enhances the normal function of GnRH
36) Reasoning
37) Calculation
38) Simple passage comprehension
39) Passage comprehension
40) Reasoning
41) Reasoning
42) Proteases function to digest proteins into smaller fragments
43) Incorrect. Kind of a mistake, wrong interpretation. Additional nucleotide to open reading frame of EGP
results in a frameshift mutation and an aberrant carboxy-terminal domain, but likely a similar amino terminal
domain.
44) Citric acid cycle
45) Glycolysis ATP calculation
46) Eggs and sperm have same genome size
47) Mesoderm question
48) Incorrect. Complete mistake in analyzing a table, unacceptable.
49) Myosin is a motor protein, which moves along actin
50) Lysosomes are membrane-bound organelles that contain hydrolytic enzymes activated by a low pH. These
enzymes are capable of degrading many kinds of biomolecules.
51) Microtubules originate from centrosomes
52) Cytotoxic T lymphocytes target virus-infected cells by recognizing the viral antigen presented on the cell
surface
53) Reasoning
54) Reasoning
55) Passage comprehension
56) Variable portions of an antibody
57) Sperm is produced in the seminiferous tubules of the testes, completes maturation and becomes motile in
the epididymis
58) Without ATP, the myosin head is unable to break free from the actin filament – rigor mortis
59) Reducing agent eliminates any disulfide bridges and allows the monomers to run separately

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1) phosphatase is an enzyme that removes a phosphate group from its substrate
2) Passage comprehension
3) Passage comprehension
4) Passage comprehension
5) Microfilaments are composed of actin
6) Amino acid structure knowledge
7) Experiment knowledge
8) Amino acid knowledge
9) Experiment knowledge
10) Table reading
11) Table reading
12) Experiment knowledge
13) Amino acid knowledge
14) Epimers
15) Osmotic pressure
16) neurons
17) Incorrect. I had no idea. A Southern blot uses a restriction digest to differentiate between mutant and wild
type alleles. In order for a Southern blot to be useful, the mutation should either create or eliminate a restriction
site, most of which are palindromes and 4 to 6 baes long.
18) Easy
19) Incorrect. Mistake. HIV is a retrovirus with an RNA genome.
20) Basic Michaelis Menten
21) Amino Acids
22) Incorrect. Had no idea. The average molecular weight of an amino acid is 110 Da.
23) Passage comprehension. Use of a denaturing agent will disrupt the interactions between monomers. use of a
reducing agent only will disrupt any disulfide bonds. Native PAGE will not affect native state of a protein.
24) Basic Passage comprehension.
25) Basic graph reading
26) Basic Dependent variable identification
27) Passage comprehension
28) Basic passage comprehension
29) Liver detoxifies drugs
30) Incorrect. Complete mistake. Punnett square calculations
31) Well reasoned. Research and design
32) POE. The lower the Kd, the higher the binding affinity. If an enzyme has a Hill coefficient greater than 1, it
means that it exhibits cooperativity.
33) Incorrect. Complete mistake. Misreading of graph. Same Km means same binding affinity.
34) Interpretation of data
35) Amino acid
36) Incorrect. Mistake. Misreading of the passage. The length of time the host cells were exposed to the bacteria
was identical. The Time at which the cell samples were collected was the independent variable.
37) Organic chemistry
38) Incorrect. Could have gotten. Western Blot analysis. Aldolase is the loading control to determine if the same
amount of each sample was loaded on the gel (why the hell else would it be there?). POE.
39) Structure of GTP (structure of guanine)
40) Good. To separate through isoelectric point, a stable pH must be established in the gel. Not “amplifying the
samples by PCR before running on the gel” –when do we have to do PCR? This is for DNA, not proteins
41) Passage comprehension
42) Amino acids
43) Protein isoforms – different combinations of exons
44) Passage comprehension
45) Research Design
46) Ovarian cells are epithelial cells, and osteoclasts are connective tissue cells
47) Data analysis
48) Passage comprehension
49) Amino Acids
50) POE, research design
51) Hormones – peptide vs steroid
52) SDS PAGE – reducing destroys disulfide bonds
53) Phosphodiester bonds do not stabilize tertiary structure of a protein
54) Well reasoned. Uncompetitive inhibitors do not alter the slope of the LIneweaver Burk plot, which is equal
to Km / Vmax. Excellent application of “Don’t pick the wrong answer”
55) Well reasoned. Uncompetitive inhibitors work most effectively under higher substrate concentrations
56) Amino Acids
57) Passage comprehension
58) Table reading
59) Incorrect. Design and execution of Research. Obviously rb transcripts would only be in cytoplasm where
ribosomes are. Every other choice dealt with proteins. POE. Could have gotten.
60) Graph reading
61) Basic Metabolism
62) Incorrect. A was the better answer. Mistake. You would expect to see no difference between cytochrome c
levels in the second SN condition. If stuck between two answers, think more
63) Signal sequence domains are protein domains required for proteins that are directed toward secretory
pathways
64) Table reading
65) Incorrect. Mistake. Every single cell contains the same DNA sequence (this includes promoters and
enhancers). Nuclear factors (transcription factors) are different and vary based on cell type.
66) Amino acid
67) Incorrect. Unsure. The polar and charged amino acids most likely interact with water molecules in the
cytosol and would not be involved in protein-protein interactions. In contrast, the side chains of hydrophobic
amino acids are free and most likely participate in the dimerization of STAT3.
68) Isoforms are produced by different exons
69) Incorrect. The average molecular weight of an amino acid is 110 Da. POE. mistake
70) Basic charge separation
71) Know the citric acid cycle!!! Names
72) Enzyme used in gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis. Glucose 6-phosphatase catalyzes the final step of both
gluconeogenesis and glcogenolysis.
73) Incorrect. Mistake. Don’t choose the wrong answer. Michaelis Menten. Kcat / KM = catalytic efficiencty.
Vmax = kcat[E].
74) Table reading
75) Basic Lineweaver-Burk
76) Basic graph reading
77) Amino Acids
78) DNA polymerase (in DNA amplification), DNA ligase (in ligation of cDNA to DNA vector) and reverse
transcriptase are used during cDNA cloning.
79) Basic amino acids
80) Basic passage reading, metabolism
81) Incorrect. Did not know. Lactate, oxaloacetate, and alpha-ketoglutarate are used as starting materials in
gluconeogenesis. What can be used as substrates for gluconeogenesis?
82) G protein activates adenylate cyclase and pkA, and level of cAMP are all increased. Activation of G protein
promotes the dissociation of bound GDP and its exchange for GTP on the alpha subunit.
83) Incorrect. Passage comprehension. Mistake.
84) Incorrect. Enzymes of metabolism. Glycogen phosphorylase is the enzyme that catalyzes the rate-limiting
step in glycogen breakdown.
85) Glycogen has only alpha linkages
86) Substrates for gluconeogenesis
87) Phosphatases vs kinases
88) Krebs cycle – molecule names and products
89) Pentose phosphate pathway results in NADPH, which is used as a reductive agent in cellular respiratory
processes.
90) Michaelis-Menten
91) Passage comprehension
92) Question stem
93) Incorrect. Research and Design of execution. Not really sure
94) Lipoic acid is a cofactor for the enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase which catalyzes the conversion of
pyruvate to acetyl-CoA.
95) Passage comprehension
96) Graph interpretation
97) Structures of TCA
98) Incorrect. Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase catalyzes the conversion of glucose 6 phosphate to 6
phosphogluconolactone in the pentose phosphate pathway.
99) Incorrect. Mistake. Read the question. “Coding Strand”
100) Southern blotting cannot be used for gene expression testing.

What I learned:
 A protein isoform is one of a number of different structurally similar proteins that are created as the
result of alternative splicing or from similar genes formed from a copied gene and differentiated as the
result of evolution
 Go over lab techniques (entire procedures for blotting, isophoresis), ELISA
 Go over metabolism – urgent
 Go over michaelis-menten


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1) Tricky, good reasoning, look at graphs despite what you may think, interpretation of data
2) Tricky – somatic mutations are inherited
10) Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide = NAD+ / NADH
15) Glomerular filtrate is most concentrated in the medullary portion of the collecting duct when concentrated
urine is produced.
26) Lipid Rafts are cholesterol rich domains, keeps cell membranes fluid
29) Renal – Basic: Pressure drives GFR
41) RBC’s don’t have nuclei
44) Viruses are obligate parasites
48) Aldosterone: conservation of Na+, excretion of K+
50) Breakdown of muscle from mobilizing amino acids from muscle tissue
55) Brain uses insulin-independent transporters for Glucose uptake
56) Incorrect. You were debating between weight loss and loss of appetite, in regards to the least likely
symptom of diabetes. Loss of appetite wouldn’t make sense because it leads to weight loss. Thus, if this was
correct, weight loss would be correct too. POE. Catabolism of fatty acids and proteins leads to fatigue and
weight loss.
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4) Incorrect. Mistake. Glycolysis obviously only produces 2 net ATP.
8) Incorrect. Realize that “inflammation” is a key word for immune system activation. Leukocytes gravitate
toward an inflammation.
9) Incorrect. Cancer is not “incorporation of DNA,” but “damaged DNA and uncontrolled division.” Passage
comprehension. “Infection by H pylori increases one’s risk of gastric cancer, but less than 25% ultimately
develop such cancer.” The only reasonable conclusion is that most people infected do not develop gastric cancer
because they tolerate the infection without developing tumors.
14) Incorrect. Frog freezing question. If tissues can perform aerobic respiration, this means that the heart is still
circulating and thus delivering oxygenated blood to the system.
23) Incorrect. It tells you that each daughter “receives an uneven amount of DNA from amitotic macronucleus”.
In the female ovum, cytoplasm is distributed unequally. Your choice, B, “contain uneven amounts of nuclear
material,” is wrong because in the female ovum this is not true. The only true answer is A, “uneven division,”
which is more broad and not wrong.
24) Incorrect. Amitotic division (like binary fission) leads to uneven distribution of chromosomes, which leas to
unpredictable genome, which means variable allele distribution.
36) Incorrect. Myoglobin holds oxygen in the muscles and organs, but not bone. Damage to muscles and organs
may result in myoglobin being present in her urine. Remember that the function of kidney is waste.
42) Incorrect. Mistake. Skin does not perform respiration. Respiration is exchanging O2 and CO2 with
environment, and only lungs can do this.
46) Incorrect. Don’t pick the wrong answer. Low blood pressure decreases the glomerular filtration rate,
allowing more time for reabsorption and decreasing the amount of substance A in the urine. Blood pressure is
the source of the energy that forces fluid into the capsular space. If the heart stopped and the blood in the
glomerular capillaries had no hydrostatic pressure, fluid in the space around the glomerulus would flow back
into the capillary bloodstream. This would occur because the protein-rich blood would be hypertonic with
respect to the protein poor fluid in the capsular space, so that the fluid would flow down the osmotic gradient in
the blood.
47) Incorrect .Faulty reasoning. A high Tm indicates a high capacity for reabsorption of substances in the
kidney tubules. A lower Tm means less reabsorption efficiency, meaning much more will be spilling into the
urine, being eliminated from the body.
54) Incorrect. Mistake. Vasoconstriction increases blood pressure. Thus, during a hemorrhage, it has the
function of maintaining blood pressure.
61) Albumin is a major osmoregulatory protein in the blood. Higher levels of albumin in the blood = influx of
tissue fluid to the bloodstream.
68) Incorrect. Bacteria and human cells are alike in the ability to produce ATP via ATP synthase. Same ETC
and H+ gradient in plasma membrane for bacteria. The chemical composition of their ribosomes are different,
apparently.
71) Incorrect. Reading comprehension. Absorption of Ca2+ into the small intestine = more Ca2+ in the blood,
not tissue.
84) Incorrect. Germ layers – form after gastrulation. Endoderm = GI tract, lungs, liver, pancreas, esophagus,
stomach, and intestine. Mesoderm = inner layer of skin, muscle, bone, cardiac muscle, kidneys, bladder,
ovaries, and testes. Ectoderm = outer layer of skin, glands, hair, and nervous system.
86) Lateral transfer of genes from one genome to another is widespread among living organisms
109) Incorrect. Don’t choose the wrong answer. Reptiles are cold-blooded. They have the body temperature
closest to that of the environment.
110) Kidney failure from dehydration is because there is inadequate blood volume from effective filtration.

AAMC Unscored Sample: 54/59

4) Anterograde transport: from center of the cell to outside
Retrograde transport: from outside to center
15) Incorrect. In blood, the concentration of H+ is maintained at low levels by other equilibria. Without any
other knowledge, however, you may be able to sense that this is a Le’Chatelier’s principle question. POE.
Remember that ATP-coupled reaction is only through enzymes.
16) Review ETC. Cytochrome C is a 1 electron carrier. NADH leads to 3 ATPs, FADH2 leads to 2 ATPs.
NADH donates electrons to complex I, which pumps protons. The electrons get accepted into Coenzyme Q
(which also accepts electrons from Complex II, which does not pump protons). Complex 3 accepts the electrons
from Coenzyme Q and pumps protons. Cytochrome c is a one electron carrier, that transports the electrons to
complex IV. In ATP synthase, F0 is the axle, and F1 is the wheel.
26) Incorrect. Only L isomers are used to form proteins during ribosomal protein synthesis. Using D isomers
would inhibit protein synthesis.
37) Colors besides red, blue, and green result from stimulation of more than one class of cones.
48) Incorrect. Administering CA inhibitor would lead to buildup of CO2 in the tissues.
55) Incorrect. Kd = dissociation constant. The lower it is, the higher binding affinity it has.
58) Changing a surface-exposed hydrophobic residue eliminates the entropic penalty associated with ordered
water molecules around hydrophobic groups.
59) Incorrect. The lining of the mouth is derived from ectoderm invagination. Much of the epithelial tissue
within the body results from the endoderm.