Asymmetric Cell Division - Intrinsic Asymmetry

Intrinsic Asymmetry

Intrinsic asymmetric divisions but they follow mechanism. At mitosis certain proteins, RNA transcripts, and other macromolecules are localized asymmetrically to one half of the cell. A cell can accomplish this through a variety of processes such as localized molecule tethering as well as molecule transport (see below). Following this, the cell performs cytokinesis and divides in two. Thus, the asymmetrically localized proteins, RNA transcripts, and other macromolecules are inherited differentially to only one of the daughter cells, causing that cell to assume a separate fate from its sibling. Because these molecules ultimately determine the identity of the daughter cell they are called cell fate determinants.

This mechanism raises two requirements: first, the mother cell must be polarized; second, the mitotic spindle must be aligned with the axis of polarity. The cell biology of these events has been most traditionally studied in three animal models: the mouse, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster. Recent work in spiralian development has also discovered insightful mechanisms of asymmetric cell division