On the Mechanisms of Growth Cone Locomotion: Modeling and Computer Simulation

In this paper we put forward a model for growth-cone locomotion in which the actin cytoskeleton is represented by a two-dimensional contractile network and the growth-cone membrane is represented by contractile segments coupled with the actin network. Our computer simulation suggests that many mechanisms, such as the actin polymerization and depolymerization, the attachment of actin filaments to the substratum, the transformation of the growth-cone neck into the axon, and the axonal transport, co-operate to generate growth-cone movement.