An image of a newt lung cell stained with fluorescent dyes during metaphase. A newt is an Amphibian of the Salamandridae family order Urodela or Caudata, found in North America, Europe, and lung is the essential Respiration organ in air-breathing Animals including most Tetrapods a few Fish and a few Snails The most primitive Staining is an auxiliary Technique used in Microscopy to enhance contrast in the microscopic image Fluorescence is a Luminescence that is mostly found as an A dye can generally be described as a Colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied The material stained green are the mitotic spindles and the material stained light blue are the chromosomes. In Cell biology, the spindle apparatus (also called spindle fibers) is the structure that separate the Chromosomes into the daughter cells during A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and Protein that is found in cells.

Metaphase, from the ancient Greek μετα (after) and φασις (stage), is a stage of mitosis in the eukaryotic cell cycle in which condensed chromosomes, carrying genetic information, align in the middle of the cell before being separated into each of the two daughter cells. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Mitosis is the process in which a Eukaryotic cell separates the Chromosomes in its Cell nucleus, into two identical sets in two daughter nuclei Animals Plants fungi, and Protists are eukaryotes (juːˈkærɪɒt or -oʊt Organisms whose cells are organized into complex The cell cycle, or cell-division cycle, is the series of events that take place in a eukaryotic cell leading to its replication A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and Protein that is found in cells. A DNA sequence or genetic sequence is a succession of letters representing the Primary structure of a real or hypothetical DNA Molecule The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known living Organisms It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living and is often called

In metaphase, the chromosomes align in the middle of the cell. A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and Protein that is found in cells.

An electron micrograph of a cell during metaphase. A micrograph, microphotograph or photomicrograph is a Photograph or similar image taken through a Microscope or similar device to show

Preceded by events in prometaphase and followed by anaphase, microtubules formed in prophase have already found and attached themselves to kinetochores in metaphase. Prometaphase is the phase of Mitosis following Prophase and preceding Metaphase, in eukaryotic Somatic cells The nuclear Anaphase, from the Ancient Greek ἀνά (up and φάσις (stage is the stage of Mitosis when Chromosomes Microtubules are one of the components of the Cytoskeleton. They have a diameter of 25 nm and length varying from 200 nanometers to 25 micrometers Prophase is a stage of Mitosis in which the Chromatin condenses into a highly ordered structure called a Chromosome The kinetochore (pronounced kin et' o core is the protein structure on Chromosomes where the Spindle fibers attach during division to pull the chromosomes apart The centromeres of the chromosomes convene themselves on the metaphase plate, an imaginary line that is equidistant from the two centrosome poles. A centromere is a region of DNA typically found near the middle of a Chromosome where two Sister chromatids come in contact In Cell biology, the centrosome is an Organelle that serves as the main Microtubule organizing center (MTOC of the animal cell as well This even alignment is due to the counterbalance of the pulling powers generated by the opposing kinetochores, analogous to a tug of war between equally strong people. In certain types of cells, chromosomes do not line up at the metaphase plate and instead move back and forth between the poles randomly, only roughly lining up along the middleline. Early events of metaphase can coincide with the later events of prometaphase, as chromosomes with connected kinetochores will start the events of metaphase individually before other chromosomes with unconnected kinetochores that are still lingering in the events of prometaphase.

One of the cell cycle checkpoints occurs during prometaphase and metaphase. Cell cycle checkpoints are control mechanisms that ensure the fidelity of cell division in Eukaryotic cells. Only after all chromosomes have become aligned at the metaphase plate, when every kinetochore is properly attached to a bundle of microtubules, does the cell enter anaphase. It is thought that unattached or improperly attached kinetochores generate a signal to prevent premature progression to anaphase, even if most of the kinetochores have been attached and most of the chromosomes have been aligned. Such a signal creates the mitotic spindle checkpoint. The spindle checkpoint blocks the entry of a cell undergoing mitosis into anaphase until all chromosomes are properly attached to the meiotic or Mitotic This would be accomplished by regulation of the Anaphase Promoting Complex, securin, and separase. Anaphase-promoting complex ( APC) is a complex of several Proteins which is activated during Mitosis to initiate Anaphase. Securin is a protein involved in anaphase triggering It has two identified roles the first one is to help the transport of Separase to the nucleus and the second role Separase is a Cysteine Protease responsible for triggering Anaphase by hydrolysing Cohesin which is the Protein responsible for binding

Metaphase in the study of cancer and genetics

The analysis of metaphase chromosomes is one of the main tools of cancer cytogenetics. A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and Protein that is found in cells. Cancer (medical term Malignant Neoplasm) is a class of Diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled Cytogenetics is a branch of Genetics that is concerned with the study of chromosomes and cell division Malignant cells from solid tumors or leukemia samples are grown in short term culture and dropped onto microscope slides to generate metaphase preparations. See also Cancer A tumor or tumour is the name for a swelling or lesion formed by an abnormal growth of cells (termed neoplastic Leukemia or leukaemia (Greek leukos λευκός, "white" aima αίμα, "blood" is a Cancer of the Blood A microscope ( Greek: ( micron) = small + ( skopein) = to look or see is an instrument for viewing objects that are Staining of the slides, often with Giemsa or Quinacrine, produces a pattern of in total up to several hundred bands. Staining is an auxiliary Technique used in Microscopy to enhance contrast in the microscopic image Giemsa stain, named after Gustav Giemsa, an early malariologist is used for the histopathological diagnosis of Malaria and other Parasites It is a mixture Quinacrine (trade name Atabrine) is a drug with a number of different medical applications being initially used in the 1930s as an Antimalarial drug Inspection of the stained metaphases allows the determination of numerical and structural changes in the tumor cell genome, for example, losses of chromosomal segments or translocations, which may lead to chimeric oncogenes, such as bcr-abl in Chronic myelogenous leukemia. In Genetics, a chromosome translocation is a Chromosome abnormality caused by rearrangement of parts between nonhomologous Chromosomes. An oncogene is a protein encoding Gene, which — when deregulated — participates in the onset and development of Cancer. Philadelphia chromosome or Philadelphia translocation is a specific chromosomal abnormality that is associated with Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML Chronic myelogenous (or myeloid leukemia ( CML) is a form of Leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of predominantly Myeloid cells

Additionally, normal metaphase spreads are used as hybridization matrix for comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) experiments. Comparative genomic hybridization ( CGH) or Chromosomal Microarray Analysis ( CMA) is a molecular- Cytogenetic method for the analysis of