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Morphological response of extending spinal neuritic growth cones to peripheral target tissue

Nerve fibers extend from spinal cord explants of larval frog in an enhanced and directed manner when cocultured with limb mesenchyme target tissue. In order to gain a better understanding of the events involved in target directed neurite extension, a detailed examination of the nerve growth cone was undertaken. The growth cones of spinal neurites that had elongated in the presence or absence of target tissue were examined by light and electron microscopy. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that growth cones of cord + limb cultures were elaborate in form with numerous and long filopodia, while those cultured in the absence of the target tissue appeared relatively simple with few, short filopodia. A morphological parallel existed between those growth cones that were cultured without the target and those in cord + limb cultures but which grew from the side of the cord explant away from the mesenchyme tissue. When examined with the transmission electron microscope, growth cones under target influence were organelle‐rich in contrast to target‐deprived growth cones, which lacked the extensive array of vesicles, endoplasmic reticulum, and filaments. When the attachment substratum of polylysine was substituted by collagen, the dramatic differences in growth cones were not realized, although enhanced, oriented growth still occurred in the presence of limb target tissue. It appears that growth cone morphology is a dynamic reflection of the growth effects elicited by a target tissue factor that in turn may be mediated by the nature of the extracellular environment. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.