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The inner core enables transient touch detection in the Pacinian corpuscle
Luke H Ziolkowski1, Yury A Nikolaev1, Akitoshi Chikamoto1
1Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Science Advances
|February 26, 2025
Summary
Pacinian corpuscles detect touch and vibration. Lamellar Schwann cells (LSCs) and the inner core, not the outer core, enable sensory tuning through their interplay with the afferent terminal.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sensory Biology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Pacinian corpuscles are vertebrate mechanoreceptors detecting transient touch and vibration.
- Their structure involves a mechanoreceptor afferent, lamellar Schwann cells (LSCs), and a multilayered outer core.
- The precise roles of these components in sensory tuning remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the three-dimensional architecture of Pacinian corpuscles.
- To determine the contribution of cellular components to touch and vibration detection.
- To challenge the prevailing model of the outer core's function.
Main Methods:
- 3D structural analysis of Pacinian corpuscles.
- Investigation of cellular component roles in mechanosensation.
- Electrophysiological analysis of afferent terminal function.
Main Results:
- The outer core is dispensable for sensory tuning to transient stimuli.
- The inner core and LSCs are crucial for touch and vibration detection.
- LSCs act as additional touch sensors, potentiating afferent terminal mechanosensitivity.
- The afferent terminal detects touch via fast-inactivating ion channels.
Conclusions:
- Pacinian corpuscle's sensory tuning arises from the inner core and LSCs, not the outer core.
- Lamellar Schwann cells (LSCs) play a vital role as mechanosensors.
- Functional tuning results from the interaction between LSCs and the afferent terminal within the inner core.
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