Colchicine is selectively neurotoxic to dentate granule cells in organotypic cultures of rat hippocampus.

Selective damage to dentate granule cells of the rat hippocampus was produced in organotypic hippocampal cultures by the addition of colchicine. Neuronal toxicity was assessed by quantifying the intensity of propidium iodide fluorescent staining of dying cells. Exposure to 1 microM and 10 microM doses of colchicine for 1 hour caused highly specific dentate granule cell toxicity after 24 hours whereas 100 microM was also slightly toxic to pyramidal cells. Forty eight hours following colchicine exposure additional damage to dentate granule cells and also slight damage to pyramidal cells was seen at all doses. This study demonstrates that dentate granule cells in organotypic hippocampal cultures are selectively vulnerable to colchicine and that colchicine can be used as a tool to selectively destroy the dentate in this preparation.