Detection of nerve growth factor binding sites on neuroblastoma cells by rosette formation.

A cloned suspension culture of mouse C1300 neuroblastoma cells bound, at 2degrees, sheep erythrocytes passively coated with nerve growth factor, with the formation of rosettes. When grown in tissue culture dishes to which they could attach, neuroblastoma cells rapidly transformed, within 48 hr emitting cytoplasmic processes some of which were several mm long. Most of the attached neuroblastoma cells formed rosettes. In contrast, normal mouse kidney cells or various murine tumor cell lines used as cell controls exhibited a poor capacity for binding nerve growth factor. Rosette formation was a specific reaction that could be prevented by pretreating cells with proteolytic enzymes, free nerve growth factor, or specific antibodies against neuroblastoma cell extracts.