SYN: astrosphere. [Mod. L. fr. G. a., a star]
- sperm a. sperm-a..
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as·ter 'as-tər n a system of gelated cytoplasmic rays arranged radially about a centriole at either end of the mitotic or meiotic spindle called also cytaster
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n.
a star-shaped object in a cell that surrounds the centrosome during mitosis and meiosis and is concerned with the formation of the spindle.
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as·ter (asґtər) [L., from Gr. astēr star] a structure seen in a cell during mitosis, composed of a system of microtubules arranged in starlike rays around each pair of centrioles.
Asters in an immunofluorescent image of a cell in the prometaphase stage of mitosis; spindle microtubules are green and chromosomes are blue.
Medical dictionary. 2011.