The role of non-histone proteins in the structure and movements of mitotic chromosomes remains poorly understood. We describe here experiments aimed at characterization of the distribution of two very different classes of these proteins. The first is composed of integral components of the centromere (or primary constriction). The second class consists of proteins that we have termed “chromosome passenger proteins”. These proteins are chromosomal during most of the cell cycle, but appear to be associated with the cytoskeleton during anaphase and telophase.The centromere regions of chromosomes perform three essential functions in mitosis. (1) They form the site of attachment of the chromosomes to the mitotic spindle. (2) They contain the mechanochemical motor molecules that are responsible for the movements of the chromosomes along microtubules. (3) They regulate the pairing of sister chromatids during mitosis. The first two of these mitotic functions are properties of a disk-shaped structural specialization, the kinetochore, which is located at the surface of the centromeric heterochromatin.