Dual effect of procaine in sea urchin eggs. Inducer and inhibitor of microtubule assembly.  An increase in the amount of cytoplasmic filamentous structures (cytoplasmic matrix and aster) which were recovered after hexylene glycol/Triton X-100 treatment of sea urchin eggs (Paracentrotus lividus) activated by 0.2-2.5 mM procaine was observed. At higher activator concentrations, an opposite effect was observed and formation of these cytoplasmic structures was inhibited in the presence of 10 mM procaine. This inhibitory effect was reversed by diluting the drug in the incubation medium. DNase I inhibition assays on egg homogenates which were performed at different time points of the activation process, show that the same amount of actin was induced to polymerize in eggs activated either by 2.5 or 10 mM procaine. However, colchicine-binding assays on the 100 000 g particulate fractions of these homogenates show that in eggs activated by 10 mM procaine, in contrast to those activated by 2.5 mM, tubulin polymerization was inhibited and microtubules were disassembled. These results show that the dual effect of procaine in the organization of the egg cytoskeleton appears to be related to its effect on the state of tubulin.