Cultured cerebellar granule neurons initially extend a single axon, followed by the extension of a second axon to attain a bipolar morphology. Differentiation culminates with the extension of several short dendrites from the cell body. In the present study, we determined the location of the dephosphorylated form of the microtubule-associated protein tau (dtau) within the growth cones of newly forming axons and examined whether this localization was influenced by the actin cytoskeleton. Following elongation of the initial axon at 2-3 days in vitro, dtau immunoreactivity was present along the entire length of the axon, becoming most intense just proximal to the growth cone. Dtau labeling dropped off dramatically along the microtubules of the growth cone and was undetectable along the most distal tips of these microtubules. As the initial axon continued to elongate at 3-4 days in vitro, the actin-rich growth cone peripheral domain characteristically underwent a dramatic reduction in size. Dtau immunoreactivity extended all the way to the most distal tips of the microtubules in the growth cones of these cells. Cytochalasin D and latrunculin A mimicked the effects of this characteristic reduction in growth cone size with regard to dtau localization in the growth cone. Depolymerization of filamentous actin caused the collapse of the peripheral domain and allowed dtau to bind all the way to the most distal tips of microtubules in the axon. Upon removal of the drugs, the peripheral domain of the growth cone rapidly re-formed and dtau was once again excluded from the most distal regions of growth cone microtubules. These findings suggest a novel role for actin in determining the localization of the microtubule-associated protein &tgr; within the growth cones of neurons.