Summary
The present report is the second of two studies re-evaluating the cytological characteristics of Pacinian corpuscles. The extreme tip of the axon of a Pacinian corpuscle has been identified and is quite different from the previously described ultraterminal region. The latter is the site where the inner core lamellae begin to terminate and is characterized by a smooth axolemma. The extreme tip lacks inner core lamellae directly abutting the axolemma and is instead characterized by the presence of many axonal spines projecting into a matrix of basal lamina-like material. The extreme tip of the axon thus resembles the organization of the axolemma facing the clefts of the inner core. The axonal spines at the cleft and extreme tip are proposed as a site of restricted current flow due to the tight apposition of inner core lamellae to the axolemma of X-axis. The hemiinner cores thus could restrict current flow to the cleft. These anatomical specializations could represent both a source and a sink for K+ ions during mechano-electric transduction and account in part for the exquisite sensitivity of Pacinian corpuscles to complex pressure waves.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albers VM (1970) The World of Sound. A.S. Barnes, London
Bekesy G von (1959) Similarities between hearing and skin sensations. Psychol Rev 66:1–22
Bekesy G von (1966) Pressure and shearing forces as stimuli of labyrinthine epithelium. Arch Otolaryng 84:122–509
Biemesderfer D, Munger BL, Binck J, Dubner R (1978) The piloRuffini complex: non-sinus hair and associated slowly-adapting mechanoreceptor in primate facial skin. Brain Res 142:197–222
Bracho HR, Budelli R, Galey F (1981) Ionic mechanisms in the vestibular apparatus: The resting state. In: Gualtierotti T (ed) The Vestibular System: Function and Morphology. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 144–159
Dallos P (1973) The Auditory Periphery: Biophysics and Physiology. Academic Press, New York
Dallos P (1984) Peripheral mechanism of hearing. In: Darian-Smith I (ed) Handbook Physiology Vol III, Pt. 2 Am Physiol Soc, Bethesda, pp 595–638
Darian-Smith I (1984) The sense of touch: Performance and peripheral neural processes. In: Darian-Smith I (ed) Handbook of Physiology Vol I, Pt. 2. The Nervous System. Am Physiol Soc, Bethesda, pp 739–788
Datur DL (1955) Cutaneous nerves in leprosy. The relationship between histopathology and cutaneous sensibility. Brain 78:615–633
Davis H (1984) The development of auditory neurophysiology. In: Dawson WW, Enoch JM (eds) Foundations of Sensory Science. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 26–64
Frey M von (1894a) Beiträge zur Physiologie des Schmerzsinns. Erste Mitt Akad Wiss Leipzing math-naturwiss, K1 Ber 46:185–196
Frey M von (1894b) Beiträge zur Physiologie des Schmerzsinns. Erste Mitt Akad Wiss Leipzing math-naturwiss, K1 Ber 46:283–296
Gardner-Medwin AR (1986) A new framework for assessment of potassium-buffering mechanisms brain as well as retina. Ann NY Acad Sci 481:287–302
Geldard FA (1975) Vibratory reception in hairy skin. In: Floresd'Arcail GB (ed) Studies on Perception: Festschrift for Fabio Metelli, Matello, Milan, pp 201–211
Halata Z, Munger BL (1983) The sensory innervation of primate facial skin II: Vermilion border and mucosa of lip. Brain Res Rev 5:81–107
Holton T, Hudspeth AJ (1986) The transduction channel of hair cells from the bull-frog characterized by noise analysis. J Physiol (Lond) 375:195–227
Hudspeth AJ (1985) The cellular basis of hearing: The biophysics of hair cells. Science 230:745–752
Ide C, Hayashi S (1988) Specialization of plasma membrane in Pacinian corpuscles: Implication of mechano-electric transduction. J Neurocytol (in press)
Ide C, Kumagai K, Hayashi S (1985) Freeze-fracture study of the mechanoreceptive digital corpuscles of mice. J Neurocytol 14:1037–1052
Ilyinsky OB, Akoev GN, Krasnikova TL, Elman SI (1976) K+ and Na+ ion content in the Pacinian corpuscle fluid and its role in the activity of receptors. Pflüg Arch 361:279–285
Keidel WD (1984) The sensory detection of vibrations. In: Dawson WW, Enoch JM (eds) Foundations of Sensory Science, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 465–512
Lamore PJJ, Musijer H, Keemink CJ (1986) Envelope detection of amplitude-modulated high-frequency sinusoidal signals by skin mechanoreceptors. J Acoust Soc Am 79:1082–1085
Lewis B (1983) Bioacoustics: A Comparative Approach, Academic Press, New York
Lighthill J (1978) Waves in Fluids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Loewenstein WR (1971) Mechano-electric transduction in a Pacinian corpuscle. Initiation of sensory impulses in mechanoreceptors. In: Loewenstein WR (ed) Handbook of Sensory Physiology. I. Principles of Receptor Physiology, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 269–290
Meissner G (1859) Untersuchungen über den Tastsinn. Z Ration Med 7:92–118
Merzenich MM, Harrington T (1968) The sense of vibration evoked by stimulation of hairy skin of primates: Comparison of human sensory capacity with the responses of mechanoreceptive afferents innervating the hairy skin of monkeys. Exp Brain Res 9:236–240
Munger BL (1971a) Patterns of organization of peripheral sensory receptors: In: Loewenstein WR (ed) Handbook of Sensory Physiology, I. Principles of Receptor Physiology, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 523–556
Munger BL (1971b) The comparative ultrastructure of slowly and rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors. In: Dubner R, Kawamura Y (eds) Oral-Facial Sensory and Motor Mechanisms, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, pp 83–103
Munger BL (1982) Multiple afferent innervation of primate facial hairs. Henry Head and Max von Frey revisited. Brain Res Rev 4:1–43
Munger BL, Ide C (1987) The enigma of sensitivity in Pacinian corpuscles: A critical review and hypothesis of mechano-electric transduction. Neurosci Res 5:1–15
Munger BL, Pubols LM (1971) The sensorineural organization of the digital skin of the raccoon. Brain Behav Evol 5:367–392
Munger BL, Page RB, Pubols BH (1979) Identification of specific mechanosensory receptors in glabrous skin or dorsal root ganglionectomized primates. Anat Rec 193:630–631
Munger BL, Yoshida Y, Hayashi S, Osawa T, Ide C (1988) A re-evaluation of the cytology of Pacinian corpuscles. I. The inner core and clefts. Cell Tissue Res 253:83–93
Newman EA (1985) Membrane physiology of retinal glial (Muller) cells. J Neurosci 5:2225–2239
Newman EA (1986) Regional specialization of the membrane of retinal glial cells and its importance to K+ spatial buffering. Ann NY Acad Sci 481:273–285
Saunders JC, Schneider ME, Dear SP (1985) The structure and function of actin in hair cells. J Acoust Soc Am 78:299–311
Spencer PS, Schaumburg HH (1973) An ultrastructural study of the inner core of the Pacinian corpuscles. J Neurocytol 2:217–235
Talbot WH, Darian-Smith I, Kornhuber HH, Mountcastle VB (1968) The sense of flutter vibration: Comparison of the human capacity with response patterns of mechanoreceptive afferents from the monkey hand. J Neurophysiol 31:301–334
Weisenberger JM (1986) Sensitivity to amplitude-modulated vibrotactile signals. J Acoust Soc Am 80:1707–1715
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ide, C., Yoshida, Y., Hayashi, S. et al. A re-evaluation of the cytology of cat Pacinian corpuscles. Cell Tissue Res. 253, 95–103 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00221744
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00221744