Lecture 3: Cell cycle and cell division

Dr Samar Samir elkhateeb

Lecturer Biochemistry and Genetics
Faculty of Dentistry –MSA university
[email protected]
Introduction

• Every living thing contains a substance described as the genetic material, this material is composed of the nucleic acid

DNA. Except some viruses

• DNA has an underlying linear structure possessing segments called genes, the products of which direct the metabolic

activities of cells.

• An organism’s DNA, with its arrays of genes, is organized into structures called chromosomes, which serve as

vehicles for transmitting genetic information.

• The manner in which chromosomes are transmitted from one generation of cells to the next and from organisms to

their descendants must be exceedingly precise.

 Chromosomes
• Chromosomes are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus

of animal and plant cells. Each chromosome is made of protein and

a single molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Passed from

parents to offspring.

• Each chromosome contains a constricted region called the

centromere, whose location establishes the general appearance of

each chromosome.

• Normally, chromosomes are visible only during mitosis and

meiosis.
Chromosomes

• When cells are not undergoing division, the genetic material making up chromosomes unfolds and

uncoils into a diffuse network within the nucleus, generally referred to as chromatin.

• Animal cells and some plant cells also contain a pair of complex structures called centrioles, located in a

specialized region called the centrosome, are associated with the organization of spindle fibbers that

function in mitosis and meiosis.

 Chromosomes

• Chromosomes are classified as metacentric, submetacentric,

acrocentric, or telocentric on the basis of the centromere location.

• The shorter arm, by convention, is shown above the centromere

and is called the p arm (p, for “petite”).

• The longer arm is shown below the centromere and is called the q

arm (q because it is the next letter in the alphabet).

• In mitosis, all somatic cells derived from members of the same

species contain an identical number of chromosomes 46

chromosomes (2n) .
 Chromosomes

• There is one important exception to the concept of homologous

pairs of chromosomes. For example, in humans, while females carry

two homologous X chromosomes, males carry one Y chromosome

in addition to one X chromosome,

• These X and Y chromosomes are not strictly homologous.

• The Y is considerably smaller and lacks most of the gene loci

contained on the X. Nevertheless, they contain homologous regions

and behave as homologs in meiosis so that gametes produced by

males receive either one X or one Y chromosome.

Chromosomes

• The haploid number (n) of chromosomes is equal to one-half the diploid number (2n).

• Collectively, the genetic information contained in a haploid set of chromosomes constitutes the genome

of the species.

• Homologous chromosomes have important genetic similarities.

• They contain identical gene sites along their lengths; each site is called a locus (pl. loci).

• Thus, they are identical in the traits that they influence and in their genetic potential.
“Life begins with cell”
The cell is the smallest structural unit of an
organism that is capable of independent
functioning .
All cells have some common features
All cells have common cycles
Born, replicate and die.
Cell cycle
• A cell divides into two daughter cells as a
result of a sequence of events known as the
cell cycle, or cell-division cycle. These
occurrences include the duplication of its DNA
(DNA replication) and a few of its organelles,
followed by the cell division process, which
involves dividing the cytoplasm and other
parts of the parent cell into two daughter
cells.
• cell cycle is divided into two main stages:
interphase and the mitotic (M) phase
 Cell division and cell cycle

• Two major processes are involved in the genetic continuity of nucleated cells: mitosis and meiosis.

• Mitosis leads to the production of two cells, each with the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.

• In contrast, meiosis reduces the genetic content and the number of chromosomes by precisely half.

• This reduction is essential if sexual reproduction is to occur without doubling the amount of genetic material in each new generation.

• Strictly speaking, mitosis is that portion of the cell cycle during which the hereditary components are equally partitioned into

daughter cells.

• Meiosis is part of a special type of cell division that leads to the production of sex cells: gametes or spores.
Cell division

• The process of mitosis is critical to all eukaryotic organisms.

• Multicellular diploid organisms begin life as single-celled fertilized eggs called zygotes.

• The mitotic activity of the zygote and the subsequent daughter cells is the foundation for the development and growth of the

organism.

• In adult organisms, mitotic activity is the basis for wound healing and other forms of cell replacement in certain tissues. For

example, the epidermal cells of the skin and the intestinal lining of humans are continuously sloughed off and replaced.

• In abnormal situations, somatic cells may lose control of cell division and form a tumour.
 Cell division
• The genetic material is partitioned into daughter cells during nuclear division, or karyokinesis.

• The chromosomes must first be exactly replicated and then accurately partitioned.

• The end result is the production of two daughter nuclei, each with a chromosome composition identical to that of the

parent cell.

• Karyokinesis is followed by cytoplasmic division, or cytokinesis. This less complex process requires a mechanism that

partitions the volume into two parts and then encloses each new cell in a distinct plasma membrane.

• As the cytoplasm is reconstituted, organelles replicate themselves, arise from existing membrane structures, or are

synthesized de novo (anew) in each cell.

Cell division

• Following cell division, the initial size of each new daughter cell is approximately
one-half the size of the parent cell. However, the nucleus of each new cell is not
appreciably smaller than the nucleus of the original cell.

• Many cells undergo a continuous alternation between division and non-division.

• The events that occur from the completion of one division until the completion of
the next division constitute the cell cycle
Cell cycle
Interphase

• These are designated G1 (gap I) and G2 (gap II), respectively. During both of
these intervals, as well as during S, intensive metabolic activity, cell growth,
and cell differentiation are evident.

• By the end of G2, the volume of the cell has roughly doubled, DNA has
been replicated, and mitosis (M) is initiated. Following mitosis,
continuously dividing cells then repeat this cycle (G1, S, G2, M) over and
over,
Interphase

• Many cell types in different organisms the complete cycle take about
16 hours.

• The actual process of mitosis occupies only a small part of the overall
cycle, often less than an hour. The lengths of the S and G2 phases of
interphase are fairly consistent in different cell types.

• Most variation is seen in the length of time spent in the G1 stage.

Interphase

• G1 is of great interest in the study of cell proliferation and its control.

• At a point during G1, all cells follow one of two paths.

They either withdraw from the cycle, and enter the G0 stage, or they become committed to proceed through G1, initiating
DNA synthesis, and completing the cycle.
Cells that enter G0 remain viable and metabolically active but are not proliferative.
Cancer cells apparently avoid entering G0 or pass through it very quickly.
Other cells enter G0 and never re-enter the cell cycle. Still other cells in G0 can be stimulated to return to G1 and thereby
re-enter the cell cycle.

• Interphase is characterized by the absence of visible chromosomes. Instead, the nucleus is filled with chromatin fibbers
that are formed as the chromosomes uncoil and disperse after the previous mitosis

• Once G1, S, and G2 are completed, mitosis is initiated. Mitosis is a dynamic period of vigorous and continual activity.
Mitosis
 Mitosis
prophase

• Often, over half of mitosis is spent in prophase

• One of the early events in prophase of all animal cells is the migration of two pairs of
centrioles to opposite ends of the cell.

• The centrioles migrate and establish poles at opposite ends of the cell.

• After migration, the centrosomes, in which the centrioles are localized, are
responsible for organizing cytoplasmic microtubules into the spindle fibbers that run
between these poles, creating an axis along which chromosomal separation occurs.
Mitosis
prophase
• As the centrioles migrate, the nuclear envelope begins to break down and gradually disappears.

• While these events are taking place, the diffuse chromatin fibers have begun to condense, until distinct thread-
like structures, the chromosomes, become visible.

• It becomes apparent near the end of prophase that each chromosome is actually a double structure split
longitudinally except at a single point of constriction, the centromere.

• The two parts of each chromosome are called sister chromatids because the DNA contained in each of them is
genetically identical, having formed from a single replicative event.

• Sister chromatids are held together by a multi-subunit protein complex called cohesin. This molecular complex is
originally formed between them during the S phase of the cell cycle when the DNA of each chromosome is
replicated.
 Mitosis
Metaphase
• The distinguishing event of the two ensuing stages is the migration of every chromosome, led by its centromeric region, to the
equatorial plane.

• The equatorial plane, also referred to as the metaphase plate, is the midline region of the cell, a plane that lies perpendicular to the
axis established by the spindle fibers.

• Once properly attached to the spindle fibers, cohesin is degraded by an enzyme, appropriately named separase, and the sister
chromatid arms disjoin, except at the centromere region.

• A unique protein family called shugoshin (from the Japanese meaning “guardian spirit”) protects cohesin from being degraded by
separase at the centromeric regions.
Mitosis
Metaphase

• The microtubules most directly responsible for chromosome migration make contact with, and adhere
to, kinetochores as they grow from the centrosome region.

• The number of microtubules that bind to the kinetochore varies greatly between organisms.

• Yeast (Saccharomyces) has only a single microtubule bound to each plate-like structure of the
kinetochore.

• Mitotic cells of mammals, at the other extreme, reveal 30 to 40 microtubules bound to each portion
of the kinetochore.

• At the completion of metaphase, each centromere is aligned at the metaphase plate with the
chromosome arms extending outward in a random array.
Mitosis
Anaphase
• The shortest stage of mitosis.

• During this phase, sister chromatids of each chromosome, held together only at their centromere regions, disjoin
(separate) from one another—an event described as disjunction—and are pulled to opposite ends of the cell.

• For complete disjunction to occur:

(1) shugoshin must be degraded, reversing its protective role; (2) the cohesin complex holding the centromere
region of each sister chromosome is then cleaved by separase; and (3) sister chromatids of each chromosome
are pulled toward the opposite poles of the cell.

• As these events proceed, each migrating chromatid is now referred to as a daughter chromosome.

• In human cells, there would now be 46 chromosomes at each pole, one from each original sister pair.
Mitosis
Telophase

• It is the final stage of mitosis . At its beginning, two complete sets of chromosomes are present, one set at each pole.

• The most significant event of this stage is cytokinesis, the division or partitioning of the cytoplasm.

• The mechanism of cytokinesis differs greatly in plant and animal cells, but the end result is the same: Two new cells

are produced.

• It is not surprising that the process of cytokinesis varies in different organisms. Plant cells, which are more regularly

shaped and structurally rigid, require a mechanism for depositing new cell wall material around the plasma

membrane.
Mitosis
Telophase

• Other events necessary for the transition from mitosis to interphase are initiated during late

telophase. They generally constitute a reversal of events that occurred during prophase.

• In each new cell, the chromosomes begin to uncoil and become diffuse chromatin once

again, while the nuclear envelope re-forms around them, the spindle fibbers disappear, and

the nucleolus gradually re-forms and becomes visible in the nucleus during early interphase.

• At the completion of telophase, the cell enters interphase.

Meiosis

Meiosis is a special type of cell division to form gametes

It involves 2 divisions:
• Meiosis I
• Meiosis II
Meiosis I

• The first part of the meiotic division.

• It is referred as reductional division.
Prophase I

• It is the longest phase of meiosis, each chromosome

duplicates and remains associated .
• These are called sister chromatids.
• During prophase I, DNA is exchanged between homologous
chromosomes results in chromosomal crossover. The new
combinations of DNA created during crossover are a
significant source of genetic variation, and may result in
beneficial new combinations of alleles.
Prophase I

• The paired and replicated chromosomes are called bivalents or tetrads,

which have two chromosomes and four chromatids, with one chromosome
coming from each parent.
• The process of pairing the homologous chromosomes is called synapsis.
• At this stage, non-sister chromatids may cross-over at points called
chiasmata.
 Metaphase I

• The homologous chromosomes align along an equatorial plane.

 Anaphase I

• Chromosomes separate to the of opposite poles of the cell as the spindle

contracts.
Telophase I

• Two daughter cells are formed with each

cell containing only one chromosome of
the homologous pair.

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Meiosis II

• Meiosis II is the second part of the meiotic process.

• Mechanically, the process is similar to mitosis,
although its genetic results are fundamentally
different.
• The end result is production of four haploid cells
(23chromosomes, N in humans) from the two diploid
cells.

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Prophase II

• No DNA replication.

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Metaphase II

• Chromosomes align at the equatorial

plate.

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Anaphase II

• Sister chromatids migrate separately

to each pole.

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Telophase II

• Cell division is complete,4 daughter

haploid (n) cell are formed.

SGS124:Genetics:lect 2-Dr. Ahmed Aref 39

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Human genetic disorders

the normal separation of chromosomes in meiosis 1 or sister chromatids In

meiosis II is termed disjunction when separation is not normal its called non
disjunction
That may results in production of gametes with either too many or too few
Chromosomes (Trisomy or Monsomy )
Down syndrome : Trisomy in Ch21
Edward syndrome : Trisomy in Ch18
Klinefelter syndrome: extra X ch in males (XXY)
Turner syndrome: Lacking of 1 X Ch in females (X0)