Sheetz M P, Baumrind N L, Wayne D B, Pearlman A L
Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, Missouri 63110.
Cell. 1990 Apr 20;61(2):231-41. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90804-n.
Formation of the nervous system requires that neuronal growth cones follow specific paths and then stop at recognition signals, sensed at the growth cone's leading edge. We used antibody-coated gold particles viewed by video-enhanced differential interference contrast microscopy to observe the distribution and movement of two cell surface molecules, N-CAM and the 2A1 antigen, on growth cones of cultured cortical neurons. Gold particles are occasionally transported forward at 1-2 microns/s to the leading edge where they are trapped but continue to move. Concentration at the edge persists after cytochalasin D treatment or ATP depletion, but active movements to and along edges cease. We also observed a novel outward movement of small cytoplasmic aggregates at 1.8 microns/s in filopodia. We suggest that active forward transport and trapping involve reversible attachment of antigens to and transport along cytoskeletal elements localized to edges of growth cones.
