Synaptophysinlike immunoreactivity in the Merkel cells of pig-snout skin

Synaptophysin is a membrane glycoprotein (Mr 38,000) found in small vesicles with clear content. It is present in neurons and in a variety of neuroendocrine cells and neoplasms, including the neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin (Merkel cell tumor). We report the presence of synaptophysinlike immunoreactivity in normal Merkel cells of the pig-snout epidermis and vibrissae. The immunostaining was primarily localized in the Merkel cell side opposite to the nerve terminal. This fact suggests that in Merkel cells, as well as in other neuroendocrine cells, synaptophysin could occur in small clear vesicles (accumulated in Merkel cells in the side opposite to the neurite) and not in the secretory granules themselves (which are concentrated in the cellular side apposed to the neurite).