Cell division is a fundamental phenomenom of all living things and equally distributing the chromosomes to the two resulting cells is one of its major functions. The cell forms a complex structure composed of proteins called the “mitotic spindle” to control this process. The video on the left shows spindle formation in a normal animal cell. The two videos on the right show the movemnts of abnormal spindles, each lacking a particular protein. In the video on the left, the main component of the spindel which are called “microtubules” are colored green, and the structures on the chromosomes (called kinetochores) that attach to the microtubules are colored red. In the videos on the right, the microtubules are pink, the chromosomes blue, and the contact between the microtubules and chromosomes are shown in green.

KEYWORDS: Cell Division / Mitotic Spindle / Microtubular Cytoskeleton / Kinetochore

Department of Biological Science

Reference
http://bunshi4.bio.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~tenure2/goshima.html
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Department of Biological Science