interphase | Chromosomes and Cancer

Mitosis has to be one of the more beautiful things in nature. It’s a choreographed dance of the chromosomes. It’s so small that we can’t see it without a microscope, but it goes on in our bodies billions of times a day.

DNA is a very long molecule made up of the genetic alphabet (which has four letters: A, C, G, T). A gene is made of a certain sequence of DNA letters (or bases) and spells out an instruction for a step in the complex workings of our bodies (such as the structure of insulin). The genes are strung together along the chromosome, and each cell has a set of chromosomes. For our bodies to grow, these cells need to make copies of themselves. The problem of how to distribute the copied chromosomes evenly to the two “daughter cells” is handled very elegantly.

Chromosomes arrested at mitosis and stained with Giemsa (unbanded).

Human metaphase chromosomes stained with Giemsa (unbanded). The two halves of each chromosome are copies of each other.

Mitosis is the solution. Mitosis is broken up into a series of phases: interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase. You could break prophase up further by adding prometaphase: the part of prophase between the nuclear membrane breaking down and metaphase (where the chromosomes line up at the metaphase plate).

Now follow the captions under the pictures.

The interphase nucleus - the DNA from all the chromosomes intertwined with each other is represented by grey modelling clay. (Actually it seems that the chromosomes stay in relatively distinct domains - but under the microscope they appear as one entity.)

The interphase nucleus. The DNA from all the chromosomes, intermingled with each other, is represented by grey modelling clay. (Actually it seems that the chromosomes stay in relatively distinct domains – but under the microscope they appear as one entity.) The DNA in the interphase nucleus copies itself as the cell grows.

The DNA in the nucleus starts to package and take shape as prophase chromosomes.

The DNA in the nucleus starts to coil up in a pre-determined order and take shape as prophase chromosomes.

The DNA folds up in a pre-determined order to make recognisable chromosomes. When the cell is ready to divide each chromosome has two chromatids or identical halves, joined at the centromere.

The DNA folds up further to make recognisable chromosomes. When the cell is ready to divide each chromosome has two chromatids or identical halves, joined at the centromere.

At metaphase the chromosomes meet in the middle of the cell at the metaphase plate. Then as the cell divides to become two daughter cells, the two halves of the centromere split and travel along the microtubules in opposite directions, pulling the two halves of the chromosome behind them.

Metaphase – the chromosomes line up in the centre of the cell at the metaphase plate. They are attached by their centromeres to microtubules which stretch across the cell.

At anaphase the two chromatids (half chromosomes) become the new chromosomes as they separate and move in opposite directions along the microtubules.

The chromosomes start to unravel to form the two new daughter interphase nuclei. The cell membrane (the outer covering) pinches at the centre and the one cell finally becomes two (cytokinesis).

The chromosomes start to uncoil to form the two new daughter nuclei – telophase. The cell membrane (the outer covering) pinches at the centre (cytokinesis).

The cell membrane pinches at the centre (cytokinesis) so the cell finally becomes two cells.

Cytokinesis finishes and we have two new cells in interphase.

If a chemical that destroys the microtubules is added to a laboratory culture, the chromosomes are stopped at metaphase. Cytogeneticists (chromosome scientists) use this technique to get enough metaphase chromosomes for analysis. Chromosome banding helps us recognise the chromosomes and identify any changes when an abnormality is suspected. Of course, the cell is also full of other organelles that have to be shared between the new cells.

The modelling clay images above are from my claymation showing mitosis. Modelling clay is a great medium for demonstrating and thinking about how things work, move and change. For the claymation I used a phone camera resting face down on a glass coffee table over the models.

(Cross-posted from Fireside Science at SciFund Challenge.)

What makes a cell become cancerous?

This can happen if the chromosomes are incorrectly distributed to a new cell. The cell could get too many copies of a cancer-promoting gene, or too few copies of a cancer-protecting gene.

The breakage-fusion-bridge cycle is one way that this can happen. This week I was asked to provide a cartoon showing the breakage-fusion-bridge cycle and how it relates to a chromosome abnormality I was describing.

By lucky coincidence my colleague Lan Ta just this week published a paper with a neat breakage-fusion-bridge cartoon that was put together by Bruce Mercer. As well as being a scientist, Bruce is a graphic artist – a very handy combination. So I was trying to draw the modified cartoon for Bruce in two dimensions, without much success. Then modelling clay came to the rescue and I was able to show him what I meant.

So I would like to share the 3D modelling clay version, but before we look at the breakage-fusion-bridge cycle, which is an abnormal pattern of chromosome division, we had better look at normal chromosome division (or mitosis).

These are chromosomes in modelling clay. There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in a human cell but we will follow 3 chromosomes for simplicity. The chromosomes only take on a recognisable shape when the cell is ready to divide. Each chromosome is made of two halves called chromatids, which are identical. These are held together at the centromere.

In a cell the chromosomes are usually not recognisable – the DNA is unravelled in the nucleus. In a growing cell each unravelled chromosome is producing a copy of itself so that there will be a chromosome for each of the two new daughter cells when the cell divides, or reproduces itself.

After the chromosomes take shape they line up together (at the metaphase plate) between two ends, or poles, of the cell. The centromere has another very important function in cell division. It attaches to fine fibres (microtubules) which stretch between the poles.