6.5 Summary of Section 6
Growth cones respond to proximal and distal cues. The proximal cues in the extracellular matrix or other cells affect adhesion and result in chemotactic guidance. Distal cues are also in the extracellular matrix but they diffuse through it and result in the growth cone either moving towards the source (attractants) or away from it (repellants). These distal cues are chemotropic cues and can have different effects on different growth cones; what may be an attractant to one growth cone may be repellant to another. It is the interplay of all these factors that results in the axon getting to the correct target.