What can you do to stop a cell from continuing to reproduce?

Answer 1

You really can't! The body has their own rules, and they make the rules of cell division. You can't stop cell division.

AnswerThe answer above is incorrect. Although the body may have its own rules, there are some rules we understand well enough to disrupt in order to halt the cell cycle completely. Additionally, there are many many many things that can go wrong that could affect the cell cycle. One such process that should be familiar is cancer. However, cancer has the opposite effect (as it will speed up mitosis exponentially).

But cells stop mitosis naturally. Some nerve and muscle cells as well as multinucleated cells are at the G0 phase of mitosis, where they no longer reproduce. Without going too deep into the specifics, there are a number of enzymes and molecules that are required so the cell can proceed to the next phase of the cell cycle, called checkpoints. If the molecules simply aren't there or an inhibitor is present, the cell will exit the cell cycle into G0. This can and does happen naturally, but it could also be induced.

In addition, a conflagration of functions is needed to make reproduction occur. If any one of those fails -- say the cytoskeleton or centrioles -- then division will not take place. There are also external factors such as density dependent inhibition or presence of a substrate. If there are too many cells around the cell in question, it will not grow or divide (this is called density-dependent inhibition, because it depends on the density of cells around it. Cancer cells notably don't exhibit density-dependent inhibition). Some cells also need a substrate (or surface) to attach to before growing or dividing. If there isn't one present, it may not proceed through the cell cycle (also not an issue for cancer cells).

Some links are provided below for more information.