Chromosome progression and mitotic times behavior are mimicked by an stochastic unstable dynamics

Abstract

Mitosis is one of the most important processes of living matter. In this paper we analyze the consequences of assuming mitosis as being dictated by an unstable dynamics grounded in an antagonist genetic circuit. Based on this approach main characteristics of chromosome movement behavior in different mitotic stages can be mimicked. We describe the statistical variability of mitotic progression times – an aspect unvisited in previous studies – and find a remarkable relationship between mitosis times, both in healthy and malignant eukaryotic cells. We propose a tentative methodological approach to reconstruct the mitotic dynamical attractor.