Growth cone configuration and advance: a time-lapse study using video- enhanced differential interference contrast microscopy

We have analyzed the dynamics of growth cone configuration using video-enhanced contrast differential interference contrast microscopy. Regenerating neurites from NGF-treated PC12 cells and sympathetic neurons were observed in real time during their elongation and reviewed by time-lapse video recordings. This technique provided a high-resolution view of motile growth cone elements including filopodia, microspikes, lamellipodia and ruffles. On the basis of our observations, a multistage model for growth cone advance is proposed. Elongation commences with lamellipodial spreading. If the newly extended lamellipodium does not retract or lift off the substrate in the form of a ruffle, a second phase--consolidation--occurs, in which the lamellipodium thickens as it fills with cytoplasm and organelles. The consolidated area then undergoes further transformation into an area of neuritic shaft as new lamellipodia form at the leading and peripheral zones of the distal process. We never observed filopodia or microspikes contracting to propel the growth cone forward. We also noted that elongating tips generally had large varicosities within 20 micron of their leading edges. These may play a role in neurite outgrowth and in the formation of smaller, synaptic vesicle-containing varicosities. The dynamic behavior of the growth cone was under the control of NGF. Withdrawal of NGF resulted in the disappearance of motile structures and cessation of growth, while readdition of NGF triggered the rapid reappearance of these structures and the resumption of growth. The high-resolution video microscopy of living growth cones provides necessary baseline information, as well as a bioassay paradigm, for future studies on the molecular mechanisms of nerve growth.