Role of the growth cone in neuronal differentiation.
Nerve growth cones are motile, exploring organelles at the tip of a growing neurite. The growth cone is a highly specialized structure, equipped with a complex machinery for reversible membrane expansion and rapid cytoskeletal reorganization, a machinery required for growth cone motility and neurite elongation. It also contains perception systems that enable the growth cone to respond to external signals, thereby steering the trailing neurite to the correct target. Soluble and substrate bound guidance molecules in the environment modulate growth cone behavior either through direct interaction or classical receptor activation coupled to second messengers. A prominent phosphoprotein of the growth cone is B-50. We propose a role for this growth-associated protein kinase C substrate in signal transduction processes in the growth cone.
Van Hooff
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Division of Molecular Neurobiology, Rudolf Magnus Institute for Pharmacology; University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Oestreicher
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De Graan
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Gispen
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D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D007797:Laminin / Q000502:physiology; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000502:physiology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
D007797:Laminin; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins