Jamison, James M.
Gilloteaux, Jacques
Taper, Henryk S.
Buc Calderon, Pedro
[UCL]
Summers, Jack L.
Vitamin C (VC) and vitamin K-3 (VK3) administered in a VC:VK3 ratio of 100: 1 exhibit synergistic antitumor activity and preferentially kill tumor cells by autoschizis, a novel type of necrosis characterized by exaggerated membrane damage and progressive loss of organelle-free cytoplasm through a series of self-excisions. During this process, the nucleus becomes smaller, cell size decreases one-half to one-third of its original size, and most organelles surround an intact nucleus in a narrow rim of cytoplasm. While the mitochondria are condensed, tumor cell death does not result from ATP depletion. However, vitamin treatment induces a G(1)/S block, diminishes DNA synthesis, increases H2O2 production, and decreases cellular thiol levels. These effects can be prevented by the addition of catalase to scavenge the H2O2. There is a concurrent 8- to 10-fold increase in intracellular Ca2+ levels. Electrophoretic analysis of DNA reveals degradation due to the caspase-3-independent reactivation of deoxyribonuclease I and II (DNase I, DNase II). Redox cycling of the vitamins is believed to increase oxidative stress until it surpasses the reducing ability of cellular thiols and induces Ca2+ release, which triggers activation of Ca2+-dependent DNase and leads to degradation of DNA. Recent experiments indicate that oral VC:VK3 increases the life-span of tumor-bearing nude mice and significantly reduces the growth rate of solid tumors without any significant toxicity by reactivating DNase I and II and inducing autoschizis. This report discusses the mechanisms of action employed by these vitamins to induce tumor-specific death by autoschizis. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Bibliographic reference |
Jamison, James M. ; Gilloteaux, Jacques ; Taper, Henryk S. ; Buc Calderon, Pedro ; Summers, Jack L.. Autoschizis: a novel cell death. In: Biochemical Pharmacology, Vol. 63, no. 10, p. 1773-1783 (2002) |
Permanent URL |
http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/41858 |