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Phagocytosis of Nerve Growth Factor-coated Erythrocytes in Neuroblastoma Rosette-forming Cells¹

Laboratorio di Biologia Cellulare, Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche [R. R., L. B.], and Istituto di Anatomia Patologica, Università di Roma [C. B.], Roma, Italy

At 2°, murine C1300 neuroblastoma cells bound NGF-coated sheep erythrocytes and formed rosettes. When the temperature was raised to 37°, the neuroblastoma cells underwent a rapid transformation characterized by microtubule formation, which occurred under the membrane surface close to the points of contact with the attached red cells. Cytoplasmic processes filled with microtubules were then emitted by the cell body and surrounded the red cells. Within 20 to 30 min, the attached erythrocytes were phagocytized. Interiorization of membrane-bound erythrocytes-antibody-complement complexes by neuroblastoma cells could be similarly induced at 37°. In both cases, the extent of phagocytosis was decreased when microtubule formation was blocked with colchicine or vinblastine. Complete inhibition was obtained only by pretreatment of cells with cytochalasin B, a strong inhibitor of microfilament contraction. The role played by the microtubules and the microfilaments in promoting the phagocytosis of the attached erythrocytes is discussed.

¹ Some of the results of this study were presented at the Gordon Conference on Cancer, Meriden, N. H., August 25 to 30, 1973, and at the Laurentian Conference on Hormone Activity, August, 25 to 31, 1973, Mont Tremblant Lodge, Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada.

² Supported in part by Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche contract #72.00675.04.

³ To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Laboratorio di Biologia Cellulare, C.N.R., Rome, Italy via Romagnosi 18A.

Received 3/25/74. Accepted 10/22/74.