Multiple axon terminals in reinnervated Pacinian corpuscles of adult rat

The ultrastructure of Pacinian corpuscles localized beneath the crural interosseous membrane was examined two weeks to 18 months after crushing the sciatic nerve in adult rats. The Pacinian inner core and capsule remained preserved during the transient period of denervation. Regenerating axons reached Pacinian corpuscles approximately three weeks after nerve crush. Up to 15 axonal sprouts entered a single corpuscle at the initial stage of reinnervation, but only 1-3 axons increased in size, myelinated and formed axon terminals in the inner core, the excess sprouts being eliminated. Most corpuscles of the crural group were reinnervated by the end of the first month. Three to 19 months after nerve crush, 10% of corpuscles examined were found to be monoaxonal and monoterminal as before the operation; 74% contained multiple terminals; 16% remained denervated. Over half the multiterminal corpuscles were supplied with a single myelinated axon that branched inside the corpuscles; the rest received two or three myelinated axons which formed several terminals. The terminals were distributed at random, usually in the axial region between the lamellae of the inner core. They were cylindrical, with an oval profile; the larger terminals were filled with mitochondria and microtubules at their circumference and contained a core of neurofilaments. Lateral processes of the terminals were filled with vesicles and had membrane specializations as in normal corpuscles. The mean number of terminals in reinnervated corpuscles was 4.07 +/- 0.37 (S.E.M.) at three months, and 3.26 +/- 0.49 (S.E.M.) 6-18 months after nerve crush. This small decrease was apparently the result of degeneration occasionally observed in some axon terminals at later stages of reinnervation. These experiments thus demonstrate that most rat Pacinian corpuscles become reinnervated with multiple terminals after nerve injury and maintain multiterminal innervation permanently.