Apoptosis by demecolcine in V79 cells.

Demecolcine (Colcemid), an inhibitor of spindle fiber formation in M phase, induced apoptosis in V79 cells. At a concentration of 0.01 microgram/ml demecolcine, V79 cells proliferated exponentially as well as controls, although temporal M phase accumulation occurred 6 h after the addition of demecolcine. At 0.1 microgram/ml, the cells became hyperploid after remaining in the M phase for some time. Apoptosis occurred in V79 cells exposed to demecolcine at a concentration of 0.03 microgram/ml. Apoptosis was defined as the appearance of a sub-G1 peak in DNA histograms and a ladder pattern of fragmented DNA in gelelectrophoresis.