The reversible effect of colchicine on the taste bud cells of the central circumvallate papilla in the rat.

It is believed that differentiation and maintenance of taste buds in vertebrates is dependent on the trophic function of their sensory nerve supply. In the present work, colchicine was injected into the circumvallate papilla of the rat. This produced a reversible blockade of neuroplasmic transport and disappearance of taste buds. Colchicine inhibited the further differentiation of bud cells, but apparently did not change the life cycle of the cells present already at the time of injection. It is speculated that the neurotrophic factors in this particular cell system are effective to induce cell differentiation only.