Fine structure of myelinated mechanical nociceptor endings in cat hairy skin

Journal of Comparative Neurology - Tập 198 Số 1 - Trang 137-154 - 1981
Lawrence Kruger1, Edward R. Perl2, Mathius J. Sedivec2
1Departments of Anatomy and Anesthesiology, Ahmanson Laboratory of Neurobiology of the Brain Research Institute. UCLA Center for Health Sciences, Los Angeles, California 90024
2Department of Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514

Tóm tắt

AbstractHigh‐threshold mechanoreceptors (mechanical nociceptors) with myelinated axons were electrophysiologically identified in hairy skin of the cat as described by Burgess and Perl ('67). Such elements possess receptive fields consisting of a number of punctate areas from which maximal firing can be elicited by intense (skin‐damaging) mechanical stimuli. The spots of the receptive field are separated from each other by unresponsive regions, i.e., by skin areas from which responses cannot be evoked by stimuli effective at the spots.Fine steel pins were inserted to bracket closely a number of the spotlike responsive areas for each of several units. After aldehyde perfusion of the animal, osmification of the tissue and embedding in plastic, the marked skin zones were examined in semithin and ultrathin sections at the light and electron microscopic level. Near each delineated area, a thinly myelnated axon was fond that could be traced to the papillary layer where it loses its myelin sheath. Unmyelinated axons accompanied by thin Schwann cell processes were then traced and found to penetrate the epidermal basal lamina in one of the papillae.At the epidermal penetration site, the axons contained both clear round, and large, dense core vesicles; at this level, the surrounding Schwann cell cytoplasm exhibited numerous pinocytotic vesicles. The zone of pentration may constitute the receptive apparatus. Some of these axons have been traced within the basal epidermal layer where they become surrounded by keratinocytes, lose their Schwann sheath, and apparently terminate. This overall morphological pattern was consistently present in the demarked areas of focal responsiveness, and was rare in the surrounding skin; this and its difference from other cutaneous neural endings suggest that the intraepidermal axon‐Schwann cell complex constitutes the receptive structure for myelinated mechanical nociceptors. It is suggested that such complexes are the sense organs responsible for initiating the sensation of pricking pain produced by localized mechanical injury of the skin.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Andres K. H., 1969, Zur Ultrastruktur verschiedener Mechanorezeptoren von höheren Wirbeltieren, Anat. Anz., 124, 551

Andres K. H., 1973, Handbook of Sensory Physiology, 1

10.1038/jid.1959.69

10.1016/0006-8993(74)90488-0

10.1152/jn.1976.39.6.1160

10.1152/jn.1969.32.6.1025

10.1152/jn.1971.34.1.116

10.1126/science.128.3326.712

Blix M., 1884, Experimentelle Beiträge zur lösung der Frage über die specifische Energie der Hautnerven, Z. Biol., 20, 141

Bock P., 1971, Demonstration intraepithelialer Axone in der Papilla filiformis des Meerschweinchens, Acta Anat. (Basel), 79, 225, 10.1159/000143640

Breathnach A. S., 1971, An Atlas of the Ultrastructure of Human Skin, 398

10.1111/1523-1747.ep12497857

10.1113/jphysiol.1967.sp008227

Burgess P. R., 1973, Handbook of Sensory Physiology, 29

10.1152/jn.1968.31.6.833

10.1152/jn.1979.42.6.1669

Cauna N., 1968, The Skin Senses, 15

Cauna N., 1973, The free penicillate nerve endings of the human hairy skin, J. Anat., 115, 277

10.1083/jcb.8.2.467

Collins W. F., 1960, Relation of peripheral nerve fiber size and sensation in man, Arch. Neurol. Psychiat., 3, 381, 10.1001/archneur.1960.00450040031003

10.3109/00016357309002522

10.2307/1416740

Fitzgerald M., 1977, The sensitization of high threshold mechanoreceptors with myelinated axons by repeated heating, J. Physiol. (Lond.), 265, 549, 10.1113/jphysiol.1977.sp011730

Frank R. M., 1972, Morphological basis of dental sensitivity, Int. Dent. J., 22, 1

von Frey M., 1895, Beiträge zur Sinnesphysiologie der Haut. (Part III) Sächsischen Gesellsch. der Wissenschaften, Abh. Math Physischen Kl., 47, 166

von Frey M., 1896, Untersuchungen über die Sinnes‐functionen der menschlichen Haut. I. Druckempfindung und Schmerz. Sächsischen Gesellsch. der Wissenschaften, Abh. Math Physischen Kl., 48, 175

10.1152/jn.1976.39.1.71

10.1016/0006-8993(79)90475-X

Goldscheider A., 1884, Die spezifische Energie der Temperaturnerven, Monatshefte fur praktische Dermatologie, 3, 198

Goldscheider A.(1885) Neue Thatsachen uber die Hautsin‐nesnerven.Arch. Anat. Physiol. Physiol. Abth. Suppl. Bd.Leipzig1–100.

10.1007/BF00306843

Halata Z., 1975, The mechanoreceptors of the mammalian skin ultrastructure and morphological classification, Adv. Anat. Embryol. Cell Biol., 50, 1

10.1016/B978-0-08-021208-1.50017-5

Hensel H., 1973, Handbook of Sensory Physiology, 79

10.1007/BF01061945

Holland G. R., 1976, An ultrastructural survey of cat dentinal tubules, J. Anat., 122, 1

10.1007/BF00226054

Hoyes A. D., 1977, Pain in the Trigeminal Region, 1

10.1113/jphysiol.1960.sp006521

10.1002/aja.1001470307

Idé C., Development of Meissner corpuscle of mouse toe pad, Anat. Rec., 188, 49, 10.1002/ar.1091880107

10.1002/cne.901790205

10.1113/expphysiol.1959.sp001417

10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008721

10.1111/j.1748-1716.1960.tb01952.x

Kadanoff D., 1971, Die Ultrastructur and Lage der Nerven‐fasern und ihrer Endigungen im Epithelgewebe, Z. Mikr. Anat. Forsch., 84, 321

Keele K. D., 1957, Anatomies of Pain

Kruger L., 1978, Handbook of Perception, 159

Kruger L., 1979, Electron microscopic identification of cutaneous delta nociceptors of cat, Neurosci. Lett., 3, S262

Kruger L., 1979, Electron microscopic study of mechanical nociceptor endings in cat skin, Anat. Rec., 193, 593

10.1152/jn.1977.40.6.1325

10.1126/science.128.3326.712

10.1016/0014-4886(59)90025-1

10.1113/jphysiol.1952.sp004736

Matsuda H., 1968, Electron microscopic study of the corneal nerve with special reference to the nerve endings, Acta Soc. Opthal. Jap., 72, 880

10.1126/science.150.3699.971

10.1083/jcb.26.1.79

Munger B. L., 1966, Touch, Heat and Pain. A Ciba Foundation Symposium, 132

Munger B. L., 1971, Handbook of Sensory Physiology, 523

10.1016/0006-8993(71)90416-1

10.1037/11374-019

10.1111/1523-1747.ep12675431

10.1016/S0022-5320(65)90011-0

10.1113/jphysiol.1968.sp008576

10.1016/0012-1606(73)90228-5

Sinclair D. C., 1967, Cutaneous Sensation, 35

10.1007/BF01474721

10.1007/BF00507122

10.1016/0304-3959(79)90140-4

10.1007/BF00233334

Torebjörk H. E., 1976, Sensory Functions of the Skin in Primates, 475, 10.1016/B978-0-08-021208-1.50038-2

Tower S. S., 1940, Units for sensory reception in cornea: With notes on nerve impulses from sclera, iris and lens, J. Neurophysiol., 3, 486

10.1111/1523-1747.ep12261569

10.1016/0006-8993(72)90198-9

Weddell G., 1957, Discussion on referred pain: Referred pain in relation to the mechanism of common sensibility, Proc. R. Soc. Med. (Lond.), 50, 581

White J. C., 1955, Pain: Its Mechanisms and Neurosurgical Control, 9

10.1093/brain/58.3.352

Zotterman Y., 1959, Pain and Itch. Ciba Foundation Study Group No. 1, 13

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Journal of Comparative Neurology

Tập 198 Số 1

137-154

Thông tin tác giả