Medical Definition of Growth cone
1.
| A specialised region at the tip of a growing neurite that is responsible for sensing the local environment and moving toward the neuron's target cell. Growth cones are hand shaped, with several long filopodia that differentially adhere to surfaces in the embryo. Growth cones can be sensitive to several guidance cues, for example: surface adhesiveness, growth factors, neurotransmitters and electric fields (galvanotropism).
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
|
Lexicographical Neighbors of Growth Cone
Other Resources:
