Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Cell Death Associated with Abnormal Mitosis Observed by Confocal Imaging in Live Cancer Cells
15:53

Cell Death Associated with Abnormal Mitosis Observed by Confocal Imaging in Live Cancer Cells

Published on: August 21, 2013

Neosis: a novel type of cell division in cancer

Meenakshi Sundaram1, Duane L Guernsey, Murali M Rajaraman

  • 1Department of Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology, QEII Health Sciences Center, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.

Cancer Biology & Therapy
|January 17, 2004
PubMed

Insights

A novel cell division process called neosis allows multinucleated cells to produce viable daughter cells, contributing to cancer development and heterogeneity.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Cancer Research
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Multinucleate/polyploid giant cells (MN/PGs) typically undergo cell death via mitotic catastrophe after DNA damage.
  • The precise mechanisms driving cell transformation and tumor progression remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate early cellular events during carcinogen-induced cell transformation.
  • To characterize a novel cell division process, neosis, observed in MN/PGs.

Main Methods:

  • Computerized video time-lapse microscopy of C3H10T1/2 cells undergoing carcinogen-induced transformation.
  • Analysis of cell division patterns, genomic instability, and phenotypic changes in daughter cells.

Main Results:

  • A novel cell division, neosis, was identified in MN/PGs, involving nuclear budding and asymmetric cytokinesis to produce "Raju cells".
  • Raju cells exhibit extended mitotic life span, genomic instability, and give rise to transformed cell lines with anchorage-independent growth.
  • Neosis was also observed in p53-/- mouse cells and human tumor cells, suggesting a broader role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression.

Conclusions:

  • Neosis is a mechanism for cell survival and proliferation under genetic duress, preceding and contributing to tumorigenesis.
  • Neosis generates tumor-initiating cells and introduces heterogeneity, influencing cancer stem cell dynamics and tumor evolution.
  • Neosis represents a potential target for anti-cancer therapies (neosicides).

More Related Videos

An In Vitro System to Study Tumor Dormancy and the Switch to Metastatic Growth09:14

An In Vitro System to Study Tumor Dormancy and the Switch to Metastatic Growth

Published on: August 11, 2011

Visualizing Neuroblast Cytokinesis During C. elegans Embryogenesis09:52

Visualizing Neuroblast Cytokinesis During C. elegans Embryogenesis

Published on: March 12, 2014

Related Concept Videos

Cancer02:18

Cancer

Cancers arise due to mutations in genes involved in the regulation of cell division, which leads to unrestricted cell proliferation. Modern science and medicine have made great strides in the understanding and treatment of cancer, including eradicating cancer in some patients. However, there is still no cure for cancer. This is largely due to the fact that cancer is a large group of many diseases.
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells02:53

Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells

Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells02:53

Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells

Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
What is Cancer?02:12

What is Cancer?

Cells and tissues must meticulously coordinate their activities for the normal functioning of the human body. Therefore, they exhibit socially responsible behavior - resting, growing, dividing, differentiating, or dying - for the organism’s benefit. Cancer arises when cells divide uncontrollably and invade other tissues or organs.
Although people have known about cancer for centuries, it was only in 1761 that Giovanni Morgagni of Padua performed a detailed autopsy of patients who died from...
What is Cancer?02:12

What is Cancer?

Cells and tissues must meticulously coordinate their activities for the normal functioning of the human body. Therefore, they exhibit socially responsible behavior - resting, growing, dividing, differentiating, or dying - for the organism’s benefit. Cancer arises when cells divide uncontrollably and invade other tissues or organs.
Although people have known about cancer for centuries, it was only in 1761 that Giovanni Morgagni of Padua performed a detailed autopsy of patients who died from...
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell02:21

Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell

Cancer arises from mutations in the critical genes that allow healthy cells to escape cell cycle regulation and acquire the ability to proliferate indefinitely. Though originating from a single mutation event in one of the originator cells, cancer progresses when the mutant cell lines continue to gain more and more mutations, and finally, become malignant. For example, chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) develops initially as a non-lethal increase in white blood cells, which progressively...