Cancer cells are frequently characterized by ploidy changes including tetra‑, poly‑ or aneuploidy. At the same time, malignant cells often contain supernumerary centrosomes. Aneuploidy and centrosome alterations are both hallmarks of tumor aggressiveness and increase with malignant...

Eukaryotic organisms usually contain a diploid complement of chromosomes. However, there are a number of exceptions. Organisms containing an increase in DNA content by whole number multiples of the entire set of chromosomes are defined as polyploid. Cells that contain more than two sets of...

Polyploidy, the state of having greater than a diploid content of DNA (e.g., tetraploid, octaploid, etc) has been recognized in a large variety of both, plant and animal cells. Human and murine megakaryocytes, hepatocytes, arterial smooth muscle cells and cardiac myocytes, all develop a certain...

For equal segregation, chromosomes, which are distributed randomly in the nucleus of interphase, must be aligned at the spindle equator in mitosis before the onset of sister chromatid separation. The spindle checkpoint is a surveillance mechanism that delays the onset of sister chromatid...

Most cancers cells are aneuploid, meaning they contain the wrong number of chromosomes. Aneuploidy entails the loss or gain of individual chromosomes or large sections of chromosomes and is defined here as distinct from polyploidy, which involves extra copies of the entire genome, such as...

This chapter covers several aspects of methodology of DNA content analysis in individual cells that is most commonly used for assessment of DNA ploidy and for enumeration of cells in particular phases of the cell cycle. Briefly presented are general principles of instrumentation and cell analysis...

Cellular defects resulting in chromosomal instability and aneuploidy are the most common features of human cancers. As a major tumor suppressor and intrinsic part of several cellular checkpoints, p53 contributes to maintenance of the stability of the genetic material, both in quality (ensures...

Cytokinesis is the final step in cell division. The process begins during chromosome segregation, when the ingressing cleavage furrow begins to partition the cytoplasm between the nascent daughter cells. The process is not completed until much later, however, when the final cytoplasmic bridge...

A growing body of evidence indicates that polyploidization triggers chromosomal instability and contributes to tumorigenesis. DNA damage is increasingly being recognized for its roles in promoting polyploidization. Although elegant mechanisms known as the DNA damage checkpoints are responsible...