Isomorphic mitosis

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TL;DR Summary

mitotic cell rounding is far from a universal feature of mesenchymal-like cell division

During tissue formation, dynamic cell shape changes drive morphogenesis while asymmetric divisions create cellular diversity.
Mitosis is no longer just what you learned in high school.
Even scientists were unaware that mitosis is not always symmetrical—until recently. Led by biologists Shane Herbert and Holly Lovegrove of the University of Manchester, a team of researchers found that cells do not always divide into two identical, spherical shapes.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu9628

Interphase cell morphology defines the mode, symmetry, and outcome of mitosis​

Some more followup by science writers with more nice pictures.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a64667040/cell-division-biology/

Scientists Found Cells That Defy the Rules of Reproduction—and Could Change Biology​

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/tech...4ba05cd18b946f1a709031bf458140c&ei=19#image=2

Biology Breakthrough: Cells Defy Reproduction Rules​

 

[BillTre]

Unequal cell divisions have been known for a long time. This has been observed in many different kinds of developmental systems. The first observations of these divisions come from histology from before the current age of molecular biology.
Here are some examples:
mother-daughter cells in Drosophila embryos
Blastomeres in leech embryos
neuroepithelial cell divisions

Different tissues will have different things they do to be able to do a mitosis.

An extreme example is neurons. With their really huge cytoskeletal structures can't just up and divide in two and maintain function. The cell's function (processing signals adaptively) would be lost. There may be a few neurons that divide, but they would have to lose all there processes (nerve branches).

This can happen in weird situations like an insect undergoing morphogenesis. The nervous system doesn't have anything to do when it is packed into a cocoon and a lot of its internal tissues kind of dissolve and reform. It would not surprise me if some larval neurons resorbed some of their processes and then later grow out other adult appropriately.
Alternatively, internal organs/tissues could be replaced by cells that grow from larval cells that are "set aside" through earlier developmental stages, waiting for the metamorphosis trigger their further development.
You can search out this, and get more modern views than mine, by doing searches based on the references above.

I am not as familiar with mesenchymal cell division as I am with neural and epithelial tissues. However it would be very available to observations with high powered optical microscopes. You should be able to search these out goggle or goggle scholar, or a research library.

Although I don't know any of the details from the last 30 years or so, Mutations in many of these processes of sorting out different cell fates (like cell types maybe) have been found in Drosophila. The molecular biology has been worked out to some degree. Genetic lines with these mutations can be bred. Searching this kind of thing in Drosophila should give lots of references.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[Cepacia]

Agree, this is not a novel observation. Asymmetric mitosis both in size and gross morphology is not uncommon among the fungi tho' the article cited speaks to consequence for tissue formation and function.. For the fungo, consider budding yeast, fungal spore production/germination, dimorphism in general.

Think Popular Mechanics or MSN considerations are driven more to to the sensational clicks than report science.