Effect of colchicine on the secretion of matrices of dentine and enamel in the rat incisor: an autoradiographic study using [3H]-proline.

Effects of colchicine on the incorporation of [3H]-proline into odontoblasts and ameloblasts at various development stages and on the secretion of the radioactive materials from these cells into dentinal and enamel matrices were studied autoradiographically, at 2,4,8 and 24 h after the injection of colchicine. In young functional and functional odontoblasts and ameloblasts, the number of autoradiographic silver grains over the cells increased while those over the matrices decreased 2,4, and 8 h after the injection of colchicine. However, the total number of grains over the cells and matrices were fairly uniform in all stages of cell development at all times after the injection of the drug. It is suggested that the drug does not appreciably affect the incorporation of [3H]-proline or the successive synthesis of the dentinal and enamel matrices but affects the secretion of the matrices in both functional odontoblasts and ameloblasts by interfering with the structure and function of microtubules in these cells.