Immuno-histochemical demonstration of alpha-tubulin distribution in rat incisor ameloblasts after vinblastine...

This study used the immunoperoxidase method to demonstrate post-vinblastine-administration distribution of alpha-tubulin, a structural component of the microtubule, in rat incisor secretory-stage and maturation-stage ameloblasts. Immunostaining for alpha-tubulin in secretory-stage ameloblasts and maturation-stage ameloblasts decreased from 1 hr to 6 hrs after vinblastine administration. At 12 to 24 hrs after administration, it appeared to begin recovering from the distal region of the cytoplasm toward the proximal side of the cytoplasm and, by 48 hrs after administration, had almost reached control levels. In both stages, ameloblast cell shapes and organelle polarities changed concurrently after the decrease in alpha-tubulin staining.