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Epidermal Merkel cells sense touch, but how they activate sensory neurons is not clear. Now, Hoffman et al. demonstrate that Merkel cells manufacture presynaptic and catecholamine-synthesis machinery, and can package… Click to show full abstract
Epidermal Merkel cells sense touch, but how they activate sensory neurons is not clear. Now, Hoffman et al. demonstrate that Merkel cells manufacture presynaptic and catecholamine-synthesis machinery, and can package and release a neurotransmitter analogue into and from vesicles, respectively. Noradrenaline evoked action potentials in Merkel cell afferents, and a β2-adrenergic antagonist blocked touch-evoked neural responses. Thus, Merkel cells release noradrenaline across synapses to activate sensory neurons.
Journal Title: Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Year Published: 2018
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