Lens epithelial cell elongation in the absence of microtubules: evidence for a new effect of colchicine.

Embryonic chick lens epithelial cells cultured in serum-supplemented medium elongated in the absence of microtubules after treatment with the antimicrotubule drug nocodazole. Colchicine, at concentrations lower than those that dissociate microtubules, blocks cell elongation and the associated increase in cell volume. These results indicate that an increase in cell volume, not microtubules, is responsible for lens cell elongation and suggest a previously undescribed effect of colchicine on cell volume regulation.