Second messengers including cGMP, cAMP and calcium are signaling molecules shared by many pathways. Although modulated by a plethoric number of intra and extracellular signals, these molecules drive selectively their various downstream effectors. The mechanisms of such a specificity are poorly understood. The subcellular control of second messengers emerged as a flexible strategy to provide specific and coordinated regulation of cellular events. We aim at demonstrating that spatially restricted signals are critical to achieve specific shape transformations of growing processes exposed to extracellular cues in the developing nervous system. Signals at the tip of leading processes during axon pathfinding (using retinal ganglion cells as a model) and in the centrosomal region during neuronal migration (focusing on cortical interneuron) will be analyzed. We will identify the local events occurring in two signaling hubs: the lipid rafts at the plasma membrane and the primary cilium.