Nocodazole

Nocodazole is an anti-neoplastic agent which exerts its effect by depolymerizing microtubules. As "Nocodazole" affects the cellular cytoskeleton, it is often used in cell biology experiments as a control: for example, some dominant negative Rho small GTPases cause a similar effect as "Nocodazole", and constitutively activated mutants often reverse or negate the effect. The effects of "Nocodazole" are best observed using confocal microscopy, with methanol-fixed cells stained with the cytoskeleton stain, phalloidin.