Neuroblastoma Cells Recapitulate Their Detailed Neurite Morphologies After Reversible Microtubule Disassembly

The detailed neurite morphologies of neuroblastoma cells can be specified by heritable information. This paper reports an investigation into how that information is stored. Cells with neurites are incubated with the microtubule-depolymerizing drug Nocodazole. The neurites retract and the cell bodies round up. The neurites reextend when the drug is removed. 58% of all cells recapitulate their original neurite morphology in detail. The same percentage of recapitulation is observed among a subset of the cells, about half the population, which move across the substratum during retraction and reextension. The results suggest that the storage of morphological determinants survives an interruption in their expression. In addition, reexpression of specific morphology does not require external cues or maintenance of the overall geometry of the cytoskeleton.