THE STAGES OF MITOSIS

 Mitosis is the process in which a eukaryotic cell nucleus splits in two, followed by division of the parent
cell into two daughter cells.
 Divided into series of phases:
1. Prophase
2. Prometaphase
3. Metaphase
4. Anaphase
5. Telophase

PROPHASE

 The “first phase”

 Nuclear envelope starts to disassociate into small vesicles.
 Nucleolus disappears
 Centrosomes begin to move opposite poles of the cell
 Microtubules that will form the mitotic spindle extend between the centrosomes, pushing them
farther apart as the microtubule fibers lengthen
 Sister chromatids begin to coil more tightly with the aid of condensing proteins and become visible
under a light microscope.

PROMETAPHASE
 The “first change phase”
 The remnant of the nuclear envelope fragment
 Mitotic spindle continues to develop
 Chromosomes become more condensed and discrete
 Kinetochores appear at the centromeres
 Mitotic spindle microtubules attach to kinetochores
 Centrosomes move toward opposite poles

Kinetochores are large protein assemblies that connect chromosomes to microtubules of the mitotic and
meiotic spindles in order to distribute the replicated genome from a mother cell to its daughters.

METAPHASE

 Mitotic spindle is fully developed; centrosomes are at opposite poles of the cell
 Chromosomes are lined up at the metaphase plate
 Each sister chromatid is attached to a spindle fiber originating from opposite poles
ANAPHASE

 Cohesion protein binding the sister cromatids together break down

 Sister chromatids are pulled toward opposite poles
 Non-kinetichores spindle fibers lengthen, elongating the cell

TELOPHASE

 The “distance phase”

 Chromosomes reach the opposite poles and begin to decondense
 Mitotic spindles are depolymerized into tub used in monomers that will be used to assemble
 They will be used for each daughter cell

THE S PHASE OF INTERPHASE

 The S phase of a cell cycle occurs

during interphase, before mitosis or
meiosis, and is responsible for the
synthesis or replication of DNA.

 The S phase only begins when the

cell has passed the G1 checkpoint
and has grown enough to contain
double the DNA.

 S phase is halted by a protein called p16 until this happens.

o The p16 protein is vital in suppressing tumors and is responsible for preventing some
cancers from happening.
o It counteracts the activities of cyclin-dependent kinase proteins which are responsible for
signaling when the cell is ready to go through to the next phase.
o The kinases signal this by phosphorylating retinoblastoma protein (pRB) which when
active tells the cell to move on to the next phase.

 In addition to DNA replication, cell growth continues to occur through the S phase.

 Proteins and enzymes necessary for DNA synthesis continue to be produced.

MITOTIC CELL CYCLE

 In mitosis, interphase further splits into three sub-phases. The first is known as G1, for first gap or
first growth. The second is the S phase, for synthesis. Lastly, the third is known as G2, for second
gap or second growth.
 During the two G phases, cell growth, protein synthesis, and enzyme synthesis are occurring.
 Meanwhile, during the S phase, DNA is replicated.
o DNA replication occurs without increasing the chromosome number.
o In this way, there is enough DNA in the cell for two daughter cells, maintaining the same
ploidy (number of chromosomal sets) as the parent cell.
o Don’t get confused between DNA replication and chromosome replication. Chromosome
replication will lead to a change in ploidy whereas DNA replication will not.