Investigation of morphological and functional changes during neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells by combined Hopping Probe Ion Conductance Microscopy and patch-clamp technique

► Relationship of NGF-induced changes in morphology and function of PC12 cells is studied using HPICM and patch-clamp. ► First quantification of 3D morphology changes during neuronal differentiation of PC12 using HPICM. ► NGF-induced Na+ current enlarge correlates to the increase in cell volume, RMS, and surface area of PC12. ► HPICM combined with patch-clamp is approved to be a powerful tool for neuron research.