V. Patwardhan et al., CELL-SURFACE ALTERATIONS BY TAXOL ASSOCIATED WITH ABNORMAL MORPHOGENESIS IN THE CHICK-EMBRYO, Cell biology international, 20(8), 1996, pp. 545-552
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