CELL-SURFACE ALTERATIONS BY TAXOL ASSOCIATED WITH ABNORMAL MORPHOGENESIS IN THE CHICK-EMBRYO

The anticancer drug taxol brings about its biological effects by alter ing the stability of microtubules. We have examined the effects of tax ol on early morphogenesis in chick embryos cultured in vitro. Taxol in duced various abnormalities in the developing nervous system, heart an d somites as well as general retardation of development. SEM studies r evealed that taxol treatment leads to dramatic alterations in the embr yonic cell surfaces. Time-course experiments demonstrated that the act ion of taxol is very rapid and becomes evident within a few minutes at the ultrastructural level. Taxol thus throws embryonic cell adhesion and motility out of balance. This appears to be the major cause of abn ormal morphogenesis in taxol-treated embryos. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited