Growth cone

Image of a fluorescently-labeled growth cone extending from an axon F-actin (red) microtubules (green).

A growth cone is a large actin-supported extension of a developing or regenerating neurite seeking its synaptic target. It is the growth cone that drives axon growth.[1] Their existence was originally proposed by Spanish histologist Santiago Ramón y Cajal based upon stationary images he observed under the microscope. He first described the growth cone based on fixed cells as "a concentration of protoplasm of conical form, endowed with amoeboid movements" (Cajal, 1890).[2] Growth cones are situated on the tips of neurites, either dendrites or axons, of the nerve cell. The sensory, motor, integrative, and adaptive functions of growing axons and dendrites are all contained within this specialized structure.

  1. ^ Santos, TE; Schaffran, B; Broguière, N; Meyn, L; Zenobi-Wong, M; Bradke, F (21 July 2020). "Axon Growth of CNS Neurons in Three Dimensions Is Amoeboid and Independent of Adhesions". Cell Reports. 32 (3): 107907. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107907. hdl:20.500.11850/428702. PMID 32698008. S2CID 220716911.
  2. ^ Ramon, Cajal S (1890). "A quelle epoque apparaissent les expansions des cellule nerveuses de la moelle epinere du poulet". Anat. Anzeiger. 5: 609–613.