The goal of mitosis is the production of two identical, genetically equivalent daughter cells from the parent cell. This process requires a set of carefully orchestrated events that ensure that the parent cell DNA is properly replicated and parsed to the nascent cells.
Several genes act in tandem to direct the various processes, many in a cell-cycle dependent manner.
One of the more critical events in cell division is chromosomal segregation. The point of attachment is the kinetochore, a structure located at the chromosomal centromere. Several cell cycle regulated centromeric proteins localize at the kinetochore and mediate the attachment of the chromosome to the spindle. During G2, CENP-F is associated with the nuclear matrix. However, a reliable and widely accepted growth marker for tumors has yet to be established.