User:Nellie.roberts/sandbox

The Centrosome Cycle
The centrosome organizes the microtubules of a cell. It has to do with the formation of the mitotic spindle, polarity and, therefore, cell shape, as well as all other processes having to do with the mitotic spindle. The centriole is the inner core of the centrosome, and its conformation is typically somewhat like that of spokes on a wheel. It has a somewhat different conformation amount different organisms, but its overall structure is similar. Plants, on the other hand, do not typically have centrioles.

Centrosomes and Disease
Issues with the centrosome can have detrimental effects on the cell, which can lead to diseases in the organisms hosting the cells. Cancer is a heavily studied disease that has been found to have a relation to the cell's centrosome. Dwarfism, microcephaly, and ciliopathies have also recently been genetically linked to centrosome proteins.

Centrosomes are believed to be related to cancer due to the fact that they contain tumor suppressor proteins and oncogenes. These proteins have been found to cause detrimental alterations in the centrosome of various tumor cells. There are two main categories of the centrosome alteration: structural and functional. The structural changes can lead to different shapes, sizes, numbers, positions, or composition, while the functional changes can lead to issues with the microtubules and mitotic spindles, therefore becoming detrimental in cell division. Researchers are hopeful that the targeting of carious centrosomal proteins may be a possible treatment to or prevention of cancer.

Regulation of the Centrosome Cycle
Centrosomes are only supposed to replicate once in each cell cycle and are therefore highly regulated. The centrosome cycle has been found to be regulated by multiple things, including reversible phosphorylation and proteolysis. It also undergoes specific processes in each step of cell division due to the heavy regulation, which is why the process is so efficient.