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A kinetochore (/ k ɪ ˈ n ɛ t ə k ɔːr /, /-ˈ n iː t ə k ɔːr /) is a disc-shaped protein structure associated with duplicated chromatids in eukaryotic cells where the spindle fibers attach during cell division to pull sister chromatids apart. [1]
Micrograph showing condensed chromosomes in blue, kinetochores in pink, and microtubules in green during metaphase of mitosis. In cell biology, the spindle apparatus is the cytoskeletal structure of eukaryotic cells that forms during cell division to separate sister chromatids between daughter cells.
After the chromosomes line up in the middle of the cell, the spindle fibers will pull them apart. The chromosomes are split apart while the sister chromatids move to opposite sides of the cell. [29] As the sister chromatids are being pulled apart, the cell and plasma are elongated by non-kinetochore microtubules. [30]
During metaphase, the kinetochore microtubules extending from each centrosome connect to the centromeres of the chromosomes. Next, during anaphase, the kinetochore microtubules pull the sister chromatids apart into individual chromosomes and pull them towards the centrosomes, located at opposite ends of the cell. This allows the cell to divide ...
An acentric chromosome is fragment of a chromosome that lacks a centromere. Since centromeres are the attachment point for spindle fibers in cell division, acentric fragments are not evenly distributed to daughter cells during cell division. As a result, a daughter cell will lack the acentric fragment and deleterious consequences could occur.
During mitosis, the chromosomes, which have already duplicated during interphase, condense and attach to spindle fibers that pull one copy of each chromosome to opposite sides of the cell. [4] The result is two genetically identical daughter nuclei. The rest of the cell may then continue to divide by cytokinesis to produce two daughter cells. [5]
This spindle apparatus consists of microtubules, microfilaments and a complex network of various proteins. During metaphase, the chromosomes line up using the spindle apparatus in the middle of the cell along the equatorial plate. The chromosomes move to opposite poles during anaphase and remain attached to the spindle fibers by their centromeres.
The microtubule-organizing center (MTOC) is a structure found in eukaryotic cells from which microtubules emerge. MTOCs have two main functions: the organization of eukaryotic flagella and cilia and the organization of the mitotic and meiotic spindle apparatus, which separate the chromosomes during cell division.