Question

Vinblastine, a drug that inhibits microtubule polymerization, is used to treat some forms of cancer. Cancer cells given vinblastine would be unable to

a. migrate by amoeboid movement.
b. form cleavage furrows during cell division.
c. extend pseudopods.
d. maintain the shape of the nucleus.
e. separate chromosomes during cell division.

Answer 1

e. separate chromosomes during cell division.

Step-by-step explanation:

The formation of the spindle apparatus starts in the prophase stage of mitosis. The spindle is made of microtubules. The kinetochore microtubules become attached to kinetochores of the centromeres of chromosomes. This attachment helps in the alignment of the chromosome at the cell's equator during metaphase. Depolymerization of kinetochore microtubules shorten them and thereby assist in the separation of sister chromatids to opposite poles during anaphase.

A cell that is unable to polymerize microtubules will not be able to form a spindle apparatus during mitosis. Chromosomes would not be aligned at the equator in metaphase and there will not be the separation of sister chromatids to the opposite poles of the cell during anaphase.