Midbody (cell biology)

[1] The midbody structure contains bundles of microtubules derived from the mitotic spindle which compacts during the final stages of cell division.

[2] Aside from microtubules it also contains various proteins involved in cytokinesis, asymmetric cell division, and chromosome segregation.

The midbody is important for completing the final stages of cytokinesis, a process called abscission.

It was long assumed that the midbody was simply a structural part of cytokinesis, and was totally degraded with the completion of mitosis.

However, it is now understood that post-abscission, the midbody is converted into an endosome-like signalling molecule, and can be internalised by nearby cells.