Pyknosis
Pyknosis, or karyopyknosis, is the irreversible condensation of chromatin in the nucleus of a cell undergoing necrosis or apoptosis. It is followed by karyorrhexis, or fragmentation of the nucleus.
Pyknosis is also observed in the maturation of erythrocytes and the neutrophil. The maturing metarubricyte will condense its nucleus before expelling it to become a reticulocyte. The maturing neutrophil will condense its nucleus into several connected lobes that stay in the cell until the end of its cell life.
Pyknotic nuclei are often found in the zona reticularis of the adrenal gland. They are also found in the keratinocytes of the outermost layer in parakeratinised epithelium.
Another use of the word pyknotic is pyknotic objects in mathematics, which are hypersheaves on the site of compacta, which has nothing to do with nuclei.
