Bepaling van het vlak van celdeling

A dividing cell accurately determining its plane of cell division is essential for the successful separation of chromosomes and the distribution of cytoplasmic contents to its daughter cells.

In animals, the division plane is located at the cell equator in between the segregated chromosomes, and its location is determined during anaphase. Microtubules that form the mitotic spindle interact with the cell cortex and play a decisive role in specifying the cleavage furrow.

Three different models are used to explain the determination of the cell division plane – the astral stimulation model, the polar relaxation model and the central spindle stimulation model.

In the astral stimulation model, radial arrays of astral microtubules interact with the equatorial cortex and induce the formation of the cleavage furrow.

In the polar relaxation model, astral microtubules send inhibitory signals to the cell poles and thereby suppress the formation of the cleavage furrow at both poles. This leads to cortical contraction at the cell equator.

Once the anaphase starts, the interpolar microtubules present between the segregated chromosomes rearrange into the overlapping antiparallel microtubules, also