Spindle Assembly Checkpoint: Kinetochore Tension & Anaphase Timing
Interactive 3D spindle assembly checkpoint simulator: watch kinetochores capture microtubules from opposite poles, Aurora B correct tension-less errors, and the Mad2 'wait-anaphase' signal release the cell into anaphase only once every chromosome is bi-oriented.
Before a dividing cell is allowed into anaphase, every chromosome's sister kinetochores must capture microtubules from opposite spindle poles — the only geometry that generates the inter-kinetochore tension the cell uses to confirm a correct attachment. This simulator seeds a metaphase plate of chromosomes with a chosen rate of syntelic misattachments, then runs Aurora B's tension-sensing error correction in real time: tension-less attachments are released and re-tried until every kinetochore pair is bi-oriented, at which point the Mad2 "wait-anaphase" signal clears and anaphase fires on its own. A Force Anaphase override lets you degrade securin early and watch what happens to chromosomes that are still misattached — same-pole segregation of both sister chromatids, the mechanism behind aneuploidies such as trisomy 21.
Adjust chromosome attachments and watch the spindle assembly checkpoint regulate anaphase timing based on kinetochore tension.
3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install