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Updated: Oct 5, 2026

Live Cell Imaging to Assess the Dynamics of Metaphase Timing and Cell Fate Following Mitotic Spindle Perturbations
Published on: September 20, 2019
Splitting the chromosome: cutting the ties that bind sister chromatids
K Nasmyth1, J M Peters, F Uhlmann
1Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Dr. Bohr-Gasse 7, A-1030 Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
In eukaryotic cells, replicated DNA molecules remain physically connected from their synthesis in S phase until they are separated during anaphase. This phenomenon, called sister chromatid cohesion, is essential for the temporal separation of DNA replication and mitosis and for the equal separation of the duplicated genome. Recent work has identified a number of chromosomal proteins required for cohesion. In this review we discuss how these proteins may connect sister chromatids and how they are removed from chromosomes to allow sister chromatid separation at the onset of anaphase.
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