diff --git a/frontend/src/global/breadcrumbs.ts b/frontend/src/global/breadcrumbs.ts
index 86d40f31..f01d2c7b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/global/breadcrumbs.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/global/breadcrumbs.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,34 @@
 import { ref } from "vue";
+import { pick } from "lodash";
 import type { DirectionalAssociation, Node } from "@/api/model";
 import { parse } from "@/util/object";
 
+/**
+ * This constant represents the minimal set of properties needed to render a
+ * link to a Node object. If more properties must be added to render such a link
+ * in the future, add them to this list.
+ *
+ * This is necessary because some pages render a large number of links to nodes.
+ * Each node then must be serialized and inserted into the DOM by Vue. If the
+ * size of nodes is non-trivial (as in, having lots of related nodes, which is
+ * not uncommon), then serializing more than ~50 nodes would cause noticeable
+ * slowdown in the UI. Rendering 1000 nodes would cause the browser to hang for
+ * about a minute.
+ *
+ * To see the issue that initiated this, see:
+ * https://github.com/monarch-initiative/monarch-app/issues/912
+ */
+const BREADCRUMB_KEYS = ["id", "category", "name", "in_taxon_label"] as const;
+
+export type BreadcrumbNode = Pick<Node, (typeof BREADCRUMB_KEYS)[number]>;
+
 export type Breadcrumb = {
-  /** node we're coming from */
-  node: Partial<Node>;
+  /* node we're coming from, represented as a small subset of keys defined above */
+  node: BreadcrumbNode;
+
   /** association between the previous node and the current node */
   association: Partial<DirectionalAssociation>;
+
   /**
    * whether breadcrumb doesn't have its own history entry (e.g. implicitly
    * created sub-class association between current node and association
@@ -15,6 +37,12 @@ export type Breadcrumb = {
   noEntry?: boolean;
 };
 
+/* Filter out properties of a node to only include those necessary to render a breadcrumb */
+export function toBreadcrumbNode(node: Node) {
+  const obj: BreadcrumbNode = pick(node, BREADCRUMB_KEYS);
+  return obj;
+}
+
 /** breadcrumbs object for breadcrumbs section on node page */
 export const breadcrumbs = ref<Breadcrumb[]>([]);
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/node/SectionHierarchy.vue b/frontend/src/pages/node/SectionHierarchy.vue
index 7d66a069..b1aa9958 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/node/SectionHierarchy.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/node/SectionHierarchy.vue
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
             :node="_class"
             :breadcrumbs="[
               {
-                node,
+                node: toBreadcrumbNode(node),
                 association: {
                   predicate: 'is super class of',
                   direction: AssociationDirectionEnum.incoming,
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 
       <!-- nodes that are "children" of node -->
       <AppDetail
-        title="Sub-classes"
+        :title="`Sub-classes (${node.node_hierarchy?.sub_classes.length})`"
         icon="angle-down"
         :blank="!node.node_hierarchy?.sub_classes.length"
         :full="true"
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
             :node="_class"
             :breadcrumbs="[
               {
-                node,
+                node: toBreadcrumbNode(node),
                 association: { predicate: 'is sub class of' },
               },
             ]"
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ import { AssociationDirectionEnum, type Node } from "@/api/model";
 import AppDetail from "@/components/AppDetail.vue";
 import AppDetails from "@/components/AppDetails.vue";
 import AppNodeBadge from "@/components/AppNodeBadge.vue";
+import { toBreadcrumbNode } from "@/global/breadcrumbs";
 
 type Props = {
   /** current node */