From the growth cone surface to the cytoskeleton: One journey, many paths

Abstract

The mechanisms that guide axons through a complex cellular landscape to reach appropriate target cells are central to our understanding of neural development. Decades of work suggest that guidance information is interpreted by signaling machinery that controls the complex and dynamic cytoskeleton at the growth cone leading edge. Recent insights from the areas of signal transduction and cell biology have identified a number of key components that play central roles in this chain of command, including members of the Ena/VASP and WASP family of proteins. Although our understanding of the precise mechanism by which these proteins control actin assembly is still incomplete, these players are emerging as potential sites of integration that translate convergent signals into directional cell movement. This brief review explores some of the most recent articles on this topic.