"Autoschizis" is a term derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

αὐτο- ''auto-'', meaning "self", and σχίζειν ''skhizein'', "to split". It was introduced in 1998 to describe a novel form of

cancer cell Cancer cells are cells that divide continually, forming solid tumors or flooding the blood with abnormal cells. Cell division is a normal process used by the body for growth and repair. A parent cell divides to form two daughter cells, and these d ...

death characterized by a reduction in cell size that occurs due to the loss of

cytoplasm In cell biology, the cytoplasm is all of the material within a eukaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, except for the cell nucleus. The material inside the nucleus and contained within the nuclear membrane is termed the nucleoplasm. The ...

through self-excision (the cell splits open) without the loss of cell

organelles In cell biology, an organelle is a specialized subunit, usually within a cell, that has a specific function. The name ''organelle'' comes from the idea that these structures are parts of cells, as organs are to the body, hence ''organelle,'' the ...

, morphologic degradation of the cells nucleus and

nucleolus The nucleolus (, plural: nucleoli ) is the largest structure in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. It is best known as the site of ribosome biogenesis, which is the synthesis of ribosomes. The nucleolus also participates in the formation of sig ...

without the formation of

apoptotic bodies Apoptosis (from grc, wikt:ἀπόπτωσις, ἀπόπτωσις, apóptōsis, 'falling off') is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemistry, Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (Morp ...

and destruction of the

cell membrane The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane (PM) or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment ( ...

. The cell death results from

karyorrhexis Karyorrhexis (from Greek κάρυον ''karyon'', "kernel, seed or nucleus", and ῥῆξις ''rhexis'', "bursting") is the destructive fragmentation of the nucleus of a dying cell whereby its chromatin is distributed irregularly throughout the c ...

and

karyolysis Karyolysis (from Greek κάρυον ''karyon—''kernel, seed, or nucleus), and λύσις ''lysis'' from λύειν ''lyein'', "to separate") is the complete dissolution of the chromatin of a dying cell due to the enzymatic degradation by endonuc ...

. Autoschizis can be initiated via

in vivo Studies that are ''in vivo'' (Latin for "within the living"; often not italicized in English) are those in which the effects of various biological entities are tested on whole, living organisms or cells, usually animals, including humans, and ...

treatment with

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) an ...

(VC), synthetic vitamin K (VK3) or, better, a combination of both. The treatment has been tested on various types of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo with positive results.

Notes

References

*H.S. Taper, J.M. Jamison, J. Gilloteaux, C. A. Gwin, T. Gordon, J.L Summers: 2001 In vivo reactivation of DNases in implanted human prostate tumors after administration of vitamin C/K3 combination. Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry 49: 109-119. *J. Gilloteaux, J.M. Jamison, D. Arnold, J.L. Summers: Autoschizis: another cell death for cancer cells induced by oxidative stress. Ital. J. Anat. Embryol.- Advances in Microanatomy of Cells and Tissues, Malpighi Collection: 2001; 106 suppl. 1): 79 - 92. *J. Gilloteaux, J.M. Jamison, D. Arnold, H.S. Taper, J.L. Summers. 2001: Ultrastructural aspects of autoschizis: A new cancer cell death induced by the synergistic action of ascorbate / menadione on human bladder carcinoma cells. Ultrastructural Pathology: 25: 183-192. *J. Gilloteaux, J.M.Jamison, D. Arnold, H.S. Taper, J. L.Summers: 2003. Microscopic aspects of autoschizic cell death in human ovarian carcinoma (2774) cells following vitamin C, vitamin K3 or vitamin C;K3 treatment. Microscopy and Microanalysis. 9(4): 311 -329. *J. Gilloteaux, J.M. Jamison, D. Arnold, J.L. Summers: 2003. LM and SEM aspects of autoschizic cell death of ovarian carcinoma cells. Scanning 25: 137-149. *J.M. Jamison, J. Gilloteaux, M.R. Nassiri, M. Venugopal, D. Neal, J.L. Summers: 2004 Cycle cycle arrest and autoschizis in a human bladder carcinoma cell line following vitamin C and vitamin K3 treatment. Biochemical Pharmacology, 67: 337-351. * J. Gilloteaux, J.M. Jamison, D. Jarjoura, H.E. Lorimer, D.R. Neal, H.S. Taper, J.L.Summers. 2004 Autoschizis: a new form of cell death for human ovarian carcinoma cells following ascorbate: menadione treatment. Nuclear and DNA degradation. Tissue and Cell, 36: 197-209. *H.S. Taper, J.M. Jamison, J. Gilloteaux, J.L. Summers, P.B. Calderon. 2004. Inhibition of the development of metastases by dietary vitamin C: K3 combination. Life Sciences 75: 955-967; doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2004.02.011 *J. Gilloteaux, JM Jamison, DA Neal, JL Summers. 2005. Cell death by autoschizis in TRAMP prostate carcinoma cells as a result of treatment by ascorbate: menadione combination. Ultrastructural Pathology, 28 (3): 221-236. *J. Gilloteaux, J.M. Jamison, D. Arnold, D.R. Neal, and J.L. Summers. 2006. Morphology and DNA degeneration during autoschizic cell death in bladder carcinoma T24 cells induced by ascorbate and menadione treatment. Anatomical Record A Discovery Molecular, Cell and Evolutionary Biology. 288 : 58-83. *JM Jamison, J Gilloteaux, L Perlaky, M Thiry, K Smetana, D Neal, K McGuire, JL Summers:. 2010. Nucleolar changes and fibrillarin, redistribution following Apatone © treatment of human bladder carcinoma cells. J Histochemistry and Cytochemistry. 58 (7): 635-651. *J. Gilloteaux, JM Jamison, DR. Neal B.S., M.Loukas, Th. Doberzstyn, JL.Summers. 2010 Cell damage and death by autoschizis in human bladder (RT4) carcinoma cells resulting from treatment by ascorbate and menadione. Ultrastructural Pathology. 34(3): 140-160. *J Gilloteaux, J M Jamison, D. Arnold, JL Summers. Autoschizis: A Mode of Cell Death of Cancer Cells Induced by a Prooxidant Treatment In Vitro and In Vivo. 2018 Chapter 28; 583-704. In: ‘Apoptosis and Beyond’ 2 vol. James A Radosevich (Editor); J Wiley – Blackwell; {{ISBN, 978-1-119-43242-5 Programmed cell death