kinetochore

[ki-nee-tuh-kawr, -kohr, -net-uh-, kahy-]

noun

1. Biology.,  the place on either side of the centromere to which the spindle fibers are attached during cell division.

Word History and Origins

Origin of kinetochore¹

1930–35; kineto- + -chore < Greek chṓros place

Example Sentences

Merotelic kinetochore orientation is a major mechanism of aneuploidy in mitotic mammalian tissue cells.

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To move and ultimately segregate each chromosome during division requires an attachment, or a physical interaction between the DNA and a specific group of proteins known as the kinetochore.

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Here, we used the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo as a model system to examine the crosstalk between two kinetochore protein complexes implicated in temporally distinct stages of attachment formation.

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The molecular machinery that shepherds and literally pulls the chromosomes apart consists of paired microtubules radiating from opposite poles of the dividing cell and an enormous, but precise, molecular complex called a kinetochore.

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At 100 nanometers across, the kinetochore is a true behemoth.

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