Changes in the organization of the neuritic cytoskeleton during nerve growth factor-activated differentiation of PC12 cells: a serial electron microscopic study of the development and control of neurite shape.

After exposure to nerve growth factor, PC12 cells differentiate within a period of only a few days into cholinergic sympathetic neurons. Using computer-assisted three-dimensional serial electron microscopic reconstruction, we describe the progressive cytoskeletal and structural changes of PC12 neurites at different stages in their differentiation. Developmental changes in these neurites can be characterized by two major transitions. First, …