Mitosis begins with prophase, during which chromosomes recruit condensin and begin to undergo a condensation process that will continue until metaphase. In most species, cohesin is largely removed from the arms of the sister chromatids during prophase, allowing the individual sister chromatids to be resolved.

Prometaphase begins with the abrupt fragmentation of the nuclear envelope into many small vesicles that will eventually be divided between the future daughter cells. The breakdown of the nuclear membrane is an essential step for spindle assembly.

Next, chromosomes assume their most compacted state during metaphase, when the centromeres of all the cell's chromosomes line up at the equator of the spindle. Metaphase is particularly useful in cytogenetics, because chromosomes can be most easily visualized at this stage. Furthermore, cells can be experimentally arrested at metaphase with mitotic poisons such as colchicine.

The progression of cells from metaphase into anaphase is marked by the abrupt separation of sister chromatids. A major reason for chromatid separation is the precipitous degradation of the cohesin molecules joining the sister chromatids by the protease separase.

Mitosis ends with telophase, or the stage at which the chromosomes reach the poles. The nuclear membrane then reforms, and the chromosomes begin to decondense into their interphase conformations. Telophase is followed by cytokinesis, or the division of the cytoplasm into two daughter cells. The daughter cells that result from this process have identical genetic compositions.

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