The development of motoneurons in the spinal cord is strongly dependent on their interactions with their target tissue, skeletal muscle, and with other cells of the central nervous system. The molecular nature of these interactions has remained obscure for many years. However, over the last few years, known growth factors have been shown to have biological activity on the survival of motoneurons, at least in culture. The factors that have been studied are members of the FGF family (fibroblast growth factors), the TGF-beta family (transforming growth factor-beta), CNTF (ciliary neurotrophic factor) and CDF-LIF (cholinergic development factor-leukaemia inhibitory factor). There are also strong reasons to suppose that at least one member of the neurotrophin family (the family that contains Nerve Growth Factor) is involved in motoneuron development. A more detailed analysis of the biological role of each of these factors should not only enlighten us as to the importance of cell-cell interactions in development of the motoneuron, but also open the way to attempts to slow motoneuron death in pathological situations, either in animals or in man.