Addition of colchicine-tubulin complex to microtubule ends: The mechanism of substoichiometric colchicine poisoning

Abstract

Colchicine blocks microtubule polymerization by an unusual substoichiometric poisoning mechanism. We have investigated the mechanism by which this poisoning occurs with several experimental approaches, and have found that colchicine acts by addition to microtubule ends as a colchicine-tubulin complex.