Exam 4 Lesson 34 Flashcards
How many cells in the human body?
At least 37 trillion
How many mitosis/cytokinesis events occur in humans each day?
20-30 billion
What is cytokinesis?
Division of the cytoplasm
When does cytokinesis begin?
During anaphase
How does cytokinesis cellular machinery differ from plants to animals?
Animal cells undergo abscission. Plant cells do not separate because of cell wall. This is more of a secretory process for plant cells.
What indicates that contractile ring is forming?
a. F-actin assembly, antiparallel orientation, links to plasma membrane. b. Nonmuscle myosin II – formation of bipolar filaments c. The RhoA GTPAse pathway – the switch for assembly of the contractile ring d. Factors for trafficking and fusion of membrane vesicles e. factors for abscission
What is abscission?
Pinching off the membrane
How does myosin II influence the contractile ring?
Myosin II causes sliding of antiparallel actin filaments, causing the ring to decrease in diameter. Remember, myosin II travels towards the plus end, so actin filaments are traveling toward the minus end.
What happens to actin filaments as contractile ring contracts?
Actin filaments are removed by severing/depolymerization. The membrane is pulled with the ring.
What is the role of RhoA GTPAse in contractile ring assembly?
RhoA GTPAse activates both myosin and actin filament assembly.
How does RhoA GTPAse activate myosin and actin filament assembly?
a. Inactive RhoA GDP is turned on by RhoGEF and becomes RhoA GTP, which is active. b. RhoA GTP stimulates formin, which stimulates actin filament formation. c. RhoA GTP stimulates Rho-activated kinases (Rock). d. Kinases directly stimulate myosin light-chain phosphorylation and indirectly stimulate it by inhibiting myosin phosphatase. This leads to myosin II activation. When actin and myosin II are activated, there is assembly and contraction of actin-myosin ring.
How does contractile ring contract?
Myosin II is two headed, and walks towards plus ends of actin filaments. They are parallel, and close in as the plus ends on each side reach myosin II.
What is the central spindle in cytokinesis?
The central spindle contains the interpolar microtubules of the spindle.
What assembles at the central spindle?
Components for cytokinesis assemble here at anaphase when mitotic cyclin-dependent kinase is inactivated.
In animal cells, what does positioning of cleavage furrow depend on?
The positioning of the mitotic spindle.
What may be source of signals for cleavage furrow positioning?
Central spindle or asters.
What force positions the spindle and contractile ring in some cells?
Force generated at the cell cortex.
How does cell cortex anchor spindle to itself?
Cytoplasmic dynein anchored at cell cortex interacts with dynamic astral microtubules to position spindle.
What three models exist for cleavage furrow positioning?
Astral stimulation model, central spindle stimulation model, and astral relaxation model.
Astral stimulation model
The astral microtubules carry furrow-inducing signals, which are somehow focused in a ring on the cell cortex, halfway between the spindle poles.
Central spindle stimulation model
The spindle midzone, or central spindle, generates a furrow-inducing signal that specifies the site of furrow formation at the cell cortex.
Astral relaxation model
Astral microtubules promote the local relaxation of actin-myosin bundles at the cell cortex. The cortical relaxation is minimal at the spindle equator, thus promoting cortical contraction at that site.
How does experiment with frog egg and bead show that aster microtubules play a role in formation of cleavage furrow?
Cleavage occurs between two asters that are simply adjacent.