WALDEN UNIVERSITY NURS 6501 ADVANCED
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY EXAM 2026 FULL
PRACTICE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
◉ What is pinocytosis? Answer: the ingestion of liquid into a cell by
the budding of small vesicles from the cell membrane. (drinking)
◉ How is endocytosis done? Answer: when the substance to be
transported is engulfed by a segment of the plasma membrane,
forming a vesicle that moves into the cell.
◉ What is phagocytosis? Answer: the ingestion of bacteria or other
material by phagocytes and amoeboid protozoans. (eating)
◉ What is receptor-mediated endocytosis? Answer: receptor-
mediated endocytosis to selectively take up specific molecules or
complexes of molecules that cannot diffuse or move through
transport proteins
◉ What is diffusion? Answer: The movement of particles from an
area of high concentration to an area of low concentration.
,◉ What happens after endocytosis occurs? Answer: lysosomal
enzymes process and digest material
◉ What is osmosis? Answer: diffusion of water across a selectively
permeable membrane
◉ What is filtration? Answer: the measurement of water and solutes
through a membrane because of a greater pushing pressure.
◉ What is hydrostatic pressure? Answer: the mechanical force of
water pushing against cellular membranes.
◉ What is oncotic pressure? Answer: Osmotic pressure exerted by
colloids in solution.
◉ What is osmotic pressure? Answer: The amount of hydrostatic
pressure required to oppose the osmotic movement of water
◉ What is the resting membrane potential? Answer: Difference in
electrical charge across the membrane at rest
◉ What is action potential? Answer: the change in electrical
potential associated with the passage of an impulse along the
membrane of a muscle cell or nerve cell.
, ◉ How does DNA replicate? Answer: DNA molecule unwinds and
each strand is a template for complementary base pairing; each
daughter helix contains an intact strand from the parent helix and a
newly synthesized strand therefore DNA replication is
semiconservative
◉ What are the four phases of the cell cycle? Answer: (1) the S
phase, during which DNA synthesis takes place in the cell nucleus;
(2) the G2 phase, the period between the completion of DNA
synthesis and the next phase (M); (3) the M phase, which involves
both nuclear (mitotic) and cytoplasmic (cytokinetic) division; and
(4) the G1 phase (growth phase), after which the cycle begins again.
◉ What are the four stages of the M phase (Mitosis)? Answer:
prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
◉ What is DNA composed of? Answer: deoxyribose, a phosphate
molecule, and four types of nitrogenous bases. The physical
structure of DNA is a double helix
◉ What does DNA polymerase do? Answer: Joins individual
nucleotides to make complementary strands and proofreads the
sequence of bases and corrects errors
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY EXAM 2026 FULL
PRACTICE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
◉ What is pinocytosis? Answer: the ingestion of liquid into a cell by
the budding of small vesicles from the cell membrane. (drinking)
◉ How is endocytosis done? Answer: when the substance to be
transported is engulfed by a segment of the plasma membrane,
forming a vesicle that moves into the cell.
◉ What is phagocytosis? Answer: the ingestion of bacteria or other
material by phagocytes and amoeboid protozoans. (eating)
◉ What is receptor-mediated endocytosis? Answer: receptor-
mediated endocytosis to selectively take up specific molecules or
complexes of molecules that cannot diffuse or move through
transport proteins
◉ What is diffusion? Answer: The movement of particles from an
area of high concentration to an area of low concentration.
,◉ What happens after endocytosis occurs? Answer: lysosomal
enzymes process and digest material
◉ What is osmosis? Answer: diffusion of water across a selectively
permeable membrane
◉ What is filtration? Answer: the measurement of water and solutes
through a membrane because of a greater pushing pressure.
◉ What is hydrostatic pressure? Answer: the mechanical force of
water pushing against cellular membranes.
◉ What is oncotic pressure? Answer: Osmotic pressure exerted by
colloids in solution.
◉ What is osmotic pressure? Answer: The amount of hydrostatic
pressure required to oppose the osmotic movement of water
◉ What is the resting membrane potential? Answer: Difference in
electrical charge across the membrane at rest
◉ What is action potential? Answer: the change in electrical
potential associated with the passage of an impulse along the
membrane of a muscle cell or nerve cell.
, ◉ How does DNA replicate? Answer: DNA molecule unwinds and
each strand is a template for complementary base pairing; each
daughter helix contains an intact strand from the parent helix and a
newly synthesized strand therefore DNA replication is
semiconservative
◉ What are the four phases of the cell cycle? Answer: (1) the S
phase, during which DNA synthesis takes place in the cell nucleus;
(2) the G2 phase, the period between the completion of DNA
synthesis and the next phase (M); (3) the M phase, which involves
both nuclear (mitotic) and cytoplasmic (cytokinetic) division; and
(4) the G1 phase (growth phase), after which the cycle begins again.
◉ What are the four stages of the M phase (Mitosis)? Answer:
prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
◉ What is DNA composed of? Answer: deoxyribose, a phosphate
molecule, and four types of nitrogenous bases. The physical
structure of DNA is a double helix
◉ What does DNA polymerase do? Answer: Joins individual
nucleotides to make complementary strands and proofreads the
sequence of bases and corrects errors
