Differential response to contact during embryonic nerve-nonnerve cell interactions

The outcome of contact interactions involving neurons and nonneurons varies depending on the cell types involved. When neuronal growth cones from either ciliary (motor) or dorsal root (sensory) ganglia directly contact the lamellipodium of an embryonic heart fibroblast, both neurite elongation and fibroblast locomotion are inhibited. This occurs in spite of the fact that cell-surface activity in both cells continues unabated. Such contact inhibition is not observed when homologous ganglionic nonneurons are involved in the interaction. In fact, these cells become intimately associated with growth cones and/or neuritic shafts as a result of the contact. The detailed nature of the response to contact exhibited by nerves and nonnerves varies not only with cell type but also with the portion of the cell involved in the contact. Growth cone filopodia tend to actively palpate the fibroblast surface, whereas spread regions, termed "veils," form areas of apposition with fibroblast lamellipodia. This latter situation resembles the "typical" contact inhibition of locomotion that occurs following embryonic heart fibroblast-fibroblast interactions. Growth cones also frequently exhibit contact guidance when interacting with nonruffling lateral surfaces of heart fibroblasts.