Mitosis is the process of cell division in eukaryotic cells that produces two identical daughter cells. It involves five stages: prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. The final stage, cytokinesis, is considered by some to be the sixth stage. Mitosis is crucial for normal tissue growth and involves hundreds of cellular proteins. The stages ensure that chromosomes are distributed equally in daughter cells, and without them, the cells may not be viable. Each stage has specific characteristics, such as the breakdown of the nuclear envelope in prophase and the separation of sister chromatids in anaphase.
There are five stages of mitosis: prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. The stages were identified based on the physical state of the chromosomes and spindle. The final division of the cell after telophase, called cytokinesis, is considered by some to be the sixth stage of mitosis. Mitosis is the process involved in normal tissue growth.
Mitosis is the eukaryotic division of a cell that produces two identical daughter cells from a single mother cell. The somatic cells of all multicellular organisms multiply by mitosis, and the process involves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cellular proteins. Daughter cells are genetically identical to each other and also to the parent cell and contain an equal distribution of chromosomes. Without the organized stages of mitosis, chromosomes would be randomly distributed in daughter cells and may not be viable.
Prophase is the first stage of mitosis where the nuclear envelope begins to break down. The chromosomes, which are contained in the nucleus of the cell, begin to shorten, coil up and thicken. During this condensation process, a spindle, or network of hair-like threads called microtubules, begins to extend outward from two centrosomes, or microtubule organizing centers. While there is only one centrosome in a cell that is not dividing, when mitosis begins, it replicates in two, and each becomes the organizing center for half of the spindle.
Prometaphase is a dynamic stage in which the nuclear envelope dissolves and proteins bind to centrosomes to become kinetochores. These then polarize at opposite ends of the cell. Metaphase is the third stage of mitosis. It is characterized by the chromosomes lining up along the center of the cell on what is called the metaphase plate. This way, when the cell divides further and the chromosomes are separated, each new nucleus receives a copy of each chromosome.
It is usually only cells that have properly assembled spindles that enter anaphase. In this phase of mitosis, the microtubules of the kinetochore shorten and the two sister chromatids of the chromosomes are pulled towards the cell poles by the spindle. Each chromosome is pulled from its centromere. Then the poles separate as non-kenetochore microtubules pass each other. The last stage of mitosis is telophase, characterized by the fact that the chromosomes reach the spindle poles where they begin to unwind. Two new nuclear membranes were created and two separate sets of non-replicating chromosomes were created.
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