Neurosci Lett. 1999 Jan 4;259(1):45-8.
Effect of colchicine on neuropeptide Y expression in rat dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord.

Cougnon-Aptel N, Whiteside GT, Munglani R.

University Department of Anaesthesia, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression in the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) was examined after application of colchicine, an axonal transport blocker, on the intact sciatic nerve or prior to axotomy or chronic constriction injury (CCI). Rats that underwent topical application of colchicine on the sciatic nerve showed decreased responsiveness to heat stimulation, ipsilaterally. CCI-induced hyperalgesia was prevented by prior application of colchicine. However, colchicine did not block axotomy-induced NPY increase when applied proximally to the injury. In fact, colchicine induced the expression of NPY in the DRG and spinal cord in an identical manner to axotomy. The present data indicates that the increase in NPY observed after nerve injury could be initiated by the suppression of retrograde transport of factors, possibly neurotrophins, rather than by the production of an active factor at the site of injury.


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Tsitologiia. 1977 Feb;19(2):186-91.
[Immunosuppressive properties of vinblastine and colchicine]

[Article in Russian]

Leont'eva TI, Maksimova GF, Babichev VA, Uteshev BS.

The action of vinblastine and colchicine on the populations of antibody-forming cells, their precursors and stem cells using a model of primary immune response and in the transplantation system was studied using techniques by Jerne and Nordin (1963), Kennedy et al. (1965), and Till and McCulloch (1961). It was discovered that vinblastine and colchicine, at single administration 48 hours after immunization, inhibited immune response completely. The administration of colchicine and vinblastine to a donor gave an exponential decrease of in foci-forming cell number in a recipient in the system of syngenic transfer. But at the same time, vinblastine at small doses stimulated population of antibody-forming and stem cells, whereas at large doses it was not effective. Colchicine, in contrast, strongly inhibited both antibody-forming and haemopoietic cells in the recipient.


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Hoppe Seylers Z Physiol Chem. 1977 Jul;358(7):819-24.
Interaction of colchicine with DNA molecules.

Buszman E, Wilczok T, Witman B, Siebert G.

Colchicine (7.5 X 10-6M or 3.3 X 10-5M) was incubated at pH 7.0, 10.0, or 12.0 with high-molecular DNA from salmon sperm (7 X 10-5M or 3.5 X 10-5M DNA-P) at 40 degrees C. Interaction was monitored by UV spectrophotometry; Amax/Amin ratios, difference and additive spectra, and the quantity of colchicine bound to DNA were presented as functions of time, ionic strength and DNA concentration. Using NMR techniques, delta deltav 1/2/deltac values, chemical shifts and half-line widths of colchicine protons were analyzed as a function of the DNA/colchicine ratio, thus proving the interaction between alkaloid and DNA. An intercalation of the tropolone moiety of colchicine between the nitrogenous bases of DNA is suggested.


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Hoppe Seylers Z Physiol Chem. 1979 Jan;360(1):59-65.
The effect of pH on colchicine conformation and structure.

Wilczok T, Buszman E, Sulkowska A, Lubas B.

The effect of various pH values between 0 and 14 on the structure and conformation of colchicine was examined using UV-vis spectrophotometry at a concentration of 1.7 x 10(-5) M and NMR techniques at a colchicine concentration of 0.1M. The complete interpretation of the colchicine NMR spectrum in D2O is given. A stable structure of the colchicine molecule in aqueous solutions at pH from 2 to 12 was demonstrated. However, during incubation at 40 degrees C colchicine was found to be stable only at pH values between 2 and 10. The significance of these data for reactions of cholchicine in regard to metabolism and interaction with macromolecules is discussed.


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