The phagocytosis of yeast cells by monocytes: effects of colchicine, beta-lumicolchicine, and gamma-lumicolchicine.

The effect of microtubule antagonist (MA) colchicine and its two non-MA derivatives beta-lumicolchicine and gamma-lumicolchicine on the phagocytosis of yeast cells by glass-adherent monocytes were studied with a fluorescence quenching technique which allowed a distinction between the adherence and engulfment phases of phagocytosis. The engulfment of yeast cells was depressed by colchicine (p = 0.031) but not by the lumicolchicines. The adherence of yeast cells to the monocytes, on the other hand, was depressed by gamma-lumicolchicine (p = 0.028). The colchicine effect suggests that cytoplasmic microtubules play a role in the engulfment process whereas the lumicolchicine effect suggests a role of nucleoside transport over the cell membrane in the adherence process of phagocytosis.