Practice question · Multiple choice
Why do both colchicine, which prevents microtubule assembly, and taxol, which prevents disassembly, arrest cell division?
Hints
- Consider what the spindle must physically do to separate chromosomes.
- Chromosomes are pulled apart by microtubules shortening, so stabilising them is as damaging as blocking them.
Show the answer
C. Mitosis requires microtubules to both grow and shrink, so freezing either process blocks it
Why
The spindle must both assemble and then shorten to pull chromosomes apart. Blocking either half of that cycle stops mitosis, which is why a stabiliser and a destabiliser have the same clinical effect, and why taxol is a chemotherapy drug.
Practise The Cytoskeleton
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