Local increases in intracellular calcium elicit local filopodial responses in Helisoma neuronal growth cones.

Highly localized changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) can be evoked in neuronal growth cones; these are followed by local changes in filopodia. Focally applied electric fields evoked spatially restricted, high magnitude increases in growth cone [Ca2+]i. The earliest and greatest increases were localized to small regions within a growth cone. Such fields also produced characteristic changes in the disposition of filopodia: both filopodial length and number were significantly increased on the cathode side of growth cones. The requirement for extracellular Ca2+ and the strong correlation between the evoked rise in [Ca2+]i and the changes in filopodia (r = 0.98) indicate that cathode stimulation results in local Ca2+ influx, leading to locally increased [Ca2+]i and local changes in filopodial behavior.