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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Whole-mount Imaging of Mouse Embryo Sensory Axon Projections
Published on: December 9, 2014
Neurotrophin-3 signaling in mammalian Merkel cell development
Viktor Szeder1, Milos Grim, Jan Kucera
1Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, USA.
Abstract:
Merkel cells are sensory cells of neural crest origin. Because little is known about the mechanisms that direct their differentiation, we have investigated the potential role of a candidate regulatory factor, neurotrophin-3 (NT-3). At embryonic day 16.5 (E 16.5), neither NT-3 nor its primary receptors, TrkC and p75NTR are expressed by Merkel cells in the murine whisker. At the time of birth, however, Merkel cells are immunoreactive for NT-3, TrkC and p75NTR. In TrkC null and NT-3 null mice, Merkel cells differentiate initially, but undergo apoptosis perinatally. These results show that NT-3 signaling is not required for the differentiation of Merkel cells, but that it is essential for their postnatal survival.
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