A TOPIC REVISITED - THE UNIQUE AND SHARED PROPERTIES OF NEURONAL GROWTH CONES THAT ENABLE NAVIGATION AND SPECIFIC PATHFINDING

One of the primary responsibilities of the neuronal growth cone is its role of guiding an elongating neurite to its proper target. The events during extension and pathfinding require that the neuronal growth cone responds to particular molecules in the environment by making appropriate changes in the behaviour of the growth cone. This paper discusses the role of intracellular calcium as a signalling system mediating these responses. The specific roles of the growth cone filopodia in acting as antennae in advance of the motile growth cone are discussed in the context of calcium mediated pathfinding events.