Laminin-1 is a potent promoter of neurite outgrowth. Here we find that the laminin-1 alpha chain contains peptide sequences that stimulate attachment and neurite outgrowth in some but not all neuronal cells. Testing of a series of overlapping peptides for biological activity with three laminin-1-responsive, neuronally derived cell lines resulted in the identification of peptide sequences, RKRLQVQLSIRT and KNRLTIELEVRT, from corresponding regions of the alpha1 and alpha2 (merosin) chain globular regions, respectively, that were active for attachment for all three cell lines and for neurite outgrowth with two of the cell lines. These data represent the identification of novel peptide sequences active with certain neuronal cells from the a1 and a2 chains of laminin. The peptides showed different attachment and neurite outgrowth activities depending on the cell type, suggesting cell type specificity in the response of the cells.