Bend and Snap

Breaking up is hard to do – especially in a dividing cell. During mitosis, a cell must separate its pairs of chromosomes – regions of genetic information – by pulling each half towards opposite ‘poles’ before it cleaves in two. This is a carefully timed process, helped by thousands of mechanical parts including these microtubules. In this computer reconstruction, they connect to unseen chromosomes in the centre, then, like fishing lines, help to yank the chromosomes toward poles on the left and right. Researchers studying the bendiness or tortuosity of the tubules, find those at the centre are straighter (highlighted in red) and curvier (yellow) around the edge. Individual tubules also curve more towards the pole ends, and straighten as they reach the kinetochores (central junctions with the chromosomes). In the future, these techniques may spot weaknesses which could be exploited to halt cell division in certain cancers.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Video from work by Robert Kiewisz and colleagues
• Experimental Center, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, July 2022