Merkel cells, also known as Merkel-Ranvier cells or tactile epithelial cells, are oval-shaped mechanoreceptors essential for light touch sensation and found in the skin of vertebrates. They are abundant in highly sensitive skin like that of the fingertips in humans, and make synaptic contacts with

somatosensory In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position ( proprioception), and pain. It ...

afferent nerve fiber Afferent nerve fibers are the axons (nerve fibers) carried by a sensory nerve that relay sensory information from sensory receptors to regions of the brain. Afferent projections ''arrive'' at a particular brain region. Efferent nerve fiber ...

s. Though it has been reported that Merkel cells are derived from

neural crest Neural crest cells are a temporary group of cells unique to vertebrates that arise from the embryonic ectoderm germ layer, and in turn give rise to a diverse cell lineage—including melanocytes, craniofacial cartilage and bone, smooth muscle, per ...

cells, more recent experiments in mammals have indicated that they are in fact

epithelial Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellu ...

in origin.

Structure

Merkel cells are found in the skin and some parts of the mucosa of all vertebrates. In mammalian skin, they are clear cells found in the '' stratum basale'' (at the bottom of sweat duct ridges) of the

epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water rel ...

approximately 10 μm in diameter. They also occur in epidermal invaginations of the plantar foot surface called

rete ridges Rete pegs (also known as rete processes or rete ridges) are the epithelial extensions that project into the underlying connective tissue in both skin and mucous membranes. In the epithelium of the mouth, the attached gingiva exhibit rete pegs, wh ...

. Most often, they are associated with sensory nerve endings, when they are known as Merkel nerve endings (also called a Merkel cell-neurite complex). They are associated with slowly adapting (SA1) somatosensory nerve fibers. They react to low vibrations (5–15 Hz) and deep static touch such as shapes and edges. Due to a small receptive field (extremely detailed info) they are densely present in areas like fingertips; they are not covered (shelled) and thus respond to pressures over long periods.

Developmental

The origin of Merkel cells has been debated for over 20 years. Evidence from skin graft experiments in birds implies that they are

derived, but experiments in mammals now demonstrate an epidermal origin.

Function

The German anatomist

Friedrich Sigmund Merkel Friedrich Sigmund Merkel (5 April 1845 – 28 May 1919) was a leading German anatomist and histopathologist of the late 19th century. In 1875, he provided the first full description of ''Tastzellen'' (touch cells) which occur in the skin of all ...

referred to these cells as ''Tastzellen'' or "touch cells" but this proposed function has been controversial as it has been hard to prove. Though,

genetic knockout A gene knockout (abbreviation: KO) is a genetic technique in which one of an organism's genes is made inoperative ("knocked out" of the organism). However, KO can also refer to the gene that is knocked out or the organism that carries the gene kno ...

mice have recently shown that Merkel cells are essential for the specialized coding by which afferent nerves resolve fine spatial details. Merkel cells are sometimes considered APUD cells (an older definition. More commonly classified as a part of dispersed neuroendocrine system) because they contain dense core granules, and thus may also have a neuroendocrine function.

Subject to malignancy

Although uncommon, these cells may become malignant and form a Merkel cell carcinoma—an aggressive and difficult to treat skin cancer.

References

External links