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mitotic spindle
(redirected from Spindle apparatus)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.03 sec.
spindle /spin·dle/ (spin´d'l)
1. a pin tapered at both ends.
2. the fusiform figure occurring during metaphase of cell division, composed of microtubules radiating from the centrioles and connecting to the chromosomes at their centromeres.
3. a type of brain wave occurring on the electroencephalogram in groups at a frequency of about 14 per second, usually while the patient is falling asleep.

Krukenberg's spindle  a spindle-shaped, brownish-red opacity of the cornea.
mitotic spindle  spindle (2).
muscle spindle  a fusiform end organ arranged in parallel between the fibers of skeletal muscle and acting as a mechanoreceptor, being the receptor of impulses responsible for the stretch reflex.
Enlarge picture
Diagrammatic cross-section of a muscle spindle showing the intrafusal fibers and afferent and efferent endings.
nuclear spindle  spindle (2).
tendon spindle  Golgi tendon organ.

mitotic spindle
n.
The fusiform figure characteristic of a dividing cell, consisting of microtubules, some of which become attached to each chromosome at its centromere and provide the mechanism for chromosomal movement. Also called nuclear spindle.

mitotic spindle.
See spindle.

spindle [spin´d'l]
1. a pin tapered at one end or both ends, or something with this shape.
2. the thin, tapering figure occurring during metaphase of cell division, composed of microtubules radiating from the centrioles and connecting to the chromosomes at their centromeres. Called also mitotic spindle.
mitotic spindle spindle (def. 2).
muscle spindle a mechanoreceptor found between the skeletal muscle fibers; the muscle spindles are arranged in parallel with muscle fibers, and respond to passive stretch of the muscle but cease to discharge if the muscle contracts isotonically, thus signaling muscle length. The muscle spindle is the receptor responsible for the stretch or myotatic reflex.
sleep s's bursts of activity of a particular waveform in the electroencephalogram in light or early sleep.


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The muscle spindle apparatus run parallel to the muscle fibers, and their job is to report how much the muscle is being stretched to the central nervous system.
 
 
 
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