Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Intravital Two-Photon Imaging of Touch Sensory Axon Morphology in Mouse Skin
Published on: December 30, 2025
Connections between nerve endings and epidermal cells: are they synapses?
Abstract:
Based on electron microscopy and confocal scanning microscopy, contacts between sensory axons and the cells of the epidermis have been described: with keratinocytes, Langerhans cells, melanocytes and Merkel cells. We would like to initiate a debate on this question: "Are neuro-epidermal connections synapses?" Anatomically, neuro-epidermal junctions can be considered as synapses in our opinion. If neuro-epidermal junctions are synapses, they probably belong to the family of en passant synapses, with nerve endings passing along epidermal cells and occasionally connecting to them. In conclusion, we suggest that neuro-epidermal junctions could be considered as true synapses, but this does not exclude non synaptic interactions.
More Related Videos
08:01Cutaneous Surgical Denervation: A Method for Testing the Requirement for Nerves in Mouse Models of Skin Disease
Published on: June 26, 2016
13:04Combined Recording of Mechanically Stimulated Afferent Output and Nerve Terminal Labelling in Mouse Hair Follicle Lanceolate Endings
Published on: May 7, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Sensory Functions of the Skin
There are two main categories of receptors on the skin: capsulated and non-capsulated. The non-capsulated ones are mainly the pain receptors. The capsulated ones can be further categorized based on the...
Electrical Synapses
Gap junctions allow the current to pass directly from one cell to the next. In contrast, in the chemical synapse, the neurotransmitters carry the information through the synaptic cleft from one neuron to the next. They consist of two...
Synaptic Signaling
Most synapses are chemical, meaning an electrical impulse or action potential spurs the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. The neuron sending the signal is called the presynaptic neuron, and the neuron receiving the signal is the postsynaptic neuron.
The presynaptic neuron fires an action potential that...
Synaptic Signaling
The Synapse
Cells of the Epidermis
The cells in all these layers except the stratum basale are called keratinocytes, a type of cell that manufactures and stores the protein keratin. The keratinocytes in the stratum corneum are dead and regularly slough away, being replaced by cells from...