Researchers release first 3D model of human cell division

A HUMAN STEM CELL UNDERGOING MITOSIS, WITH THE DNA AND MICROTUBULES IN VIEW FOLLOWED BY VARIOUS CELL STRUCTURES. (ALLEN INSTITUTE FOR CELL SCIENCE)

Scientists at the Allen Institute for Cell Science have created what they believe is the first comprehensive 3D model for mitosis using human stem cells. Previous models have characterized proteins involved in cell division using abnormal cells, but project co-director Susanne Rafelski says the Integrated Mitotic Stem Cell project — which includes images from some 2,000 mitotic cells and 15 structures within cells — captures how normal cells behave. “One of the hallmarks of cancer is rapid aberrant dividing and we're happy to provide this baseline for normal cells so we can then understand where mitosis is not normal,” Rafelski tells me. And studying cells structures can help researchers — who can access the model for free — better understand how different components of the cell come together to make cell division happen.