CELL DIVISION

Dr. Anangwe
• During prenatal development, most cells undergo
repeated division as the body grows in size and
complexity.
• As cells mature, they differentiate structurally and
functionally.
• Some cells, such as neurones, lose the ability to
divide.
• Others may persist throughout the lifetime of the
individual as stem cells, e.g. cells in the
haemopoietic tissue of bone marrow.
• Many stem cells divide to give rise to daughter
cells that undergo repeated cycles of mitotic
division as transit amplifying cells.
• Transit amplifying cells differentiate and ultimately die
and are replaced, unlike the population of parental
stem cells, which self-renews.
• Patterns and rates of cell division within tissues vary.
• In many epithelia, eg intestinal lining, the replacement
of damaged cells by division of stem cells can be rapid.
• Rates of cell division may also vary according to
demand, eg in the healing of wounded skin.
• The rate of cell division is determined by the demand
for growth and replacement.
• When this connection is faulty, tissues either fail to
grow or replace their cells, or they can overgrow,
producing neoplasms.
The Cell Cycle
• The cell cycle is the period of time between the birth
of a cell and its own division to produce two
daughter cells.
• It is divided into four distinct phases; G1, S, G2 and M.
• The combination of G1, S and G2 phases is known as
interphase.
• M is the mitotic phase.
• G1 is the period when cells respond to growth
factors directing the cell to initiate another cycle;
once made, this decision is irreversible.
• Some cells that retain the capacity for proliferation,
but which are no longer dividing, have entered a
phase called G0 and are described as quiescent.
Cell cycle
• Growth factors can stimulate quiescent cells to leave G0 and
re-enter the cell cycle
• DNA replication occurs during S phase, thus doubling the
DNA content.
• During G2, the cell prepares for division; commencement of
the breakdown of the nuclear membrane and the onset of
chromosome condensation.
• The times taken for S, G2 and M are similar for most cell
types, and occupy c.6-8, 2-4 and 1-2 hours respectively.
• The duration of G1 shows considerable variation, sometimes
ranging from less than 2 hours in rapidly dividing cells, to
more than 100 hours within the same tissue.
• There are important checkpoints in the cell
cycle at which progress can be arrested.
• Negative regulation systems operate to delay
cell cycle progression when DNA has been
damaged by radiation or chemical mutagens.
• Cells with checkpoint defects, (loss of the
protein p53 which is a major negative
control element), are commonly associated
with the development of malignancy.
• The p53 gene is an example of a tumour
suppressor gene.
Mitosis
 Mitosis occurs in most somatic cells.
 It results in two daughter cells that are
genetically identical to the parent cell.
Mitosis
• New DNA is synthesized during the S phase of the
cell cycle interphase.
• The DNA content in each chromatid is doubled.
• The chromatid arms are in turn duplicated to form
chromosome;
• Thus the total DNA content just before mitosis is
actually quadrupled (tetraploid) but the chromosome
number is diploid.
• During mitosis, this amount is halved between the
two daughter cells, so that DNA quantity and
chromosome number are diploid in both cells.
• The nuclear changes that achieve this distribution are
divided into four phases called prophase, metaphase,
anaphase and telophase.
Prophase
• During prophase, the strands of chromatin,
shorten, thicken into recognizable chromosomes.
• Each chromosome is made up of duplicate
chromatids joined at their centromeres.
• Outside the nucleus, the two centriole pairs begin
to separate, and move towards opposite poles of
the cell.
• Parallel microtubules are assembled between
them to create the mitotic spindle.
• The nucleoli disappear, and the nuclear membrane
disintegrates to release the chromosomes, an
event that marks the end of prophase.
Metaphase
 The chromosome, moving along the
spindle, collect at the central part of the
cell
 This plane is called the equatorial plane.
 Cytoplasmic movements result in equal
distribution of mitochondria and other
organelles between the future daughter
cells.
Anaphase
 During anaphase the centromere splits
into two halves, each carrying an attached
chromatid.
 At the end of anaphase the chromosomes
are grouped at either end of the cell, and
both clusters are diploid in number.
 An infolding of the cell equator begins.
Telophase
• During telophase the chromosomes decondense.
• Each nuclear membrane forms and the nucleoli appear.
• At the same time, cytoplasmic division, which usually begins
in early anaphase, continues until the new cells separate, each
with its derived nucleus.
• The spindle now disintegrates.
• While the cleavage furrow is active, a peripheral band or belt
of actin and myosin appears in the constricting zone:
contraction of this band is responsible for furrow formation.
• Failure of disjunction of chromatids, so that paired
chromatids pass to the same pole, may sometimes occur.
• Of the two new cells, one will have more, and the other
fewer, chromosomes than the diploid number.
• Exposure to ionizing radiation promotes non-disjunction.
MEIOSIS
• Meiosis occurs in finale stage of gametogenesis.
• The diploid genetic material of the parent cell is
split into two; thus the gametes have a haploid
arrangement.
• At fertilization the diploid number is restored.
• There are two cell divisions during meiosis;
Meiosis I and Meiosis II.
• MEIOSIS I
• Prophase I is a long and complex phase that
differs considerably from mitotic prophase and is
customarily divided into five substages, called
leptotene, zygotene, pachytene, diplotene and
diakinesis.
Metaphase I
 Metaphase I resembles mitotic metaphase,
except that the chromosomal bodies
attaching to the spindle microtubules are
bivalents, not single chromosomes.
 These become arranged so that the
homologous pairs lie parallel to the
equatorial plate, with one on either side.
Anaphase and telophase I
 Anaphase and telophase I also occur as in
mitosis, except that in anaphase the
centromeres do not split.
 Instead of paired chromatids separating to
move towards the poles, entire
homologous chromosomes move to
opposite poles.
 During meiosis I, cytoplasmic division
occurs as it does in mitosis, to produce
two new cells.
• MEIOSIS II
• Meiosis II commences after only a short
interval during which no DNA synthesis
occurs.
• This second division is more like mitosis,
in that chromatids separate during
anaphase.
• Cytoplasmic division also occurs and thus,
in the male, four haploid cells result from
meiosis I and II.
 Thank you