The establishment of a metaphase plate in which all chromosomes are attached to mitotic spindle microtubules and aligned at the cell equator is required for faithful chromosome segregation in metazoans. The achievement of this configuration relies on the precise coordination between several concurrent mechanisms that start upon nuclear envelope breakdown, mediate chromosome capture at their kinetochores during mitotic spindle assembly and culminate with the congression of all chromosomes to the spindle equator. This period is called ‘prometaphase’. Because the nature of chromosome capture by mitotic spindle microtubules is error prone, the cell is provided of error correction mechanisms that sense and correct most erroneous kinetochore-microtubule attachments before committing to separate sister chromatids in anaphase. In this review, aimed for newcomers in the field, more than providing an exhaustive mechanistic coverage of each and every concurrent mechanism taking place during prometaphase, we provide an integrative overview of these processes that ultimately promote the subsequent faithful segregation of chromosomes during mitosis.

建立一个中期板，其中所有染色体都附着在有丝分裂纺锤体微管上并在细胞赤道处对齐，这是后生动物中忠实的染色体分离所必需的。这种配置的实现依赖于几个并发机制之间的精确协调，这些机制从核膜破裂开始，在有丝分裂纺锤体组装过程中介导其动粒处的染色体捕获，并以所有染色体向纺锤体赤道的汇合而告终。这个时期被称为“前中期”。由于有丝分裂纺锤体微管捕获染色体的性质是容易出错的，因此细胞具有纠错机制，可在后期致力于分离姐妹染色单体之前感知和纠正大多数错误的动粒 - 微管附着。在本次审查中，