Morphological Features Accompanying Neural Differentiation of Neuroblastoma (N-2A) Induced by Media Serum Availability

Previous studies have demonstrated that cultured cloned cells extend neurites after exposure to media supplemented with reduced concentration of serum. The present experiment on cloned neuroblastoma cells (Neuro-2a) corroborates and extends the past studies. N2A cells were cultivated in media containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). After 24 hrs the cells were subcultivated into media containing either 10%, 5%, or 1% FBS; or media containing 10%, 5%, or 1% NU-SERUM V (NSV). The cells were morphologically characterized after 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours incubation. Reduced media serum concentrations increased the proportion of neurally differentiated cells, increased the overall neurite yield, increased the length of the neurites, increased the number of varicosities on the neurites, and increased the number of potentially interactive sites where varicosities on neurites from different cells overlapped or abutted. For all measures, NSV supplementation was found to reliably induce more neuritogenesis than for equal concentrations of FBS. The present experiment suggested that morphological features suitable for long term neurophysiological investigation could be induced by incubation in media containing either 1% NSV or 1% FBS.