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Developmental origin of avian Merkel cells
1Institute of Anatomy, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. milos.grim@lf1.cuni.cz
Anatomy and Embryology
|November 23, 2000
Summary
Avian Merkel cells, crucial for touch sensation, originate from neural crest cells, not the epidermis. Transplantation experiments confirmed quail cells forming these cells in chick limbs, revealing their migratory neural origin.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Neuroscience
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Avian Merkel cells are specialized sensory mechanoreceptors crucial for touch perception.
- Their precise developmental origin in birds has been a subject of debate, with epidermal versus neural origins proposed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental origin of avian Merkel cells.
- To elucidate the ultrastructural characteristics and cellular associations of avian Merkel cells.
Main Methods:
- Utilized electron microscopy for ultrastructural analysis.
- Conducted chick/quail reciprocal transplantation experiments to trace cell lineage.
- Identified donor quail cells in host chick tissues based on characteristic heterochromatin patterns.
Main Results:
- Merkel cells were consistently found in the dermis, associated with nerve terminals and glial cells.
- Transplanted quail cells were identified as Merkel cells and glial cells within chick limb grafts.
- This demonstrates that avian Merkel cells are not of epidermal origin.
Conclusions:
- Avian Merkel cells originate from neural crest cells.
- Neural crest cells migrate to the developing limb bud, differentiating into Merkel cells, glial cells, and melanocytes.
- These findings clarify the developmental lineage of avian sensory mechanoreceptors.