Electrophysiological Studies on Merkel Cells Isolated from Rat Vibrissal Mechanoreceptors

Tactile sensation, an important mechanism animals use to explore their environment, is conveyed by various mechanoreceptors in skin (Iggo and Andres, 1982). One of the earliest to evolve in vertebrates and one with a ubiquitous distribution in the integument is a complex comprising a specialized epidermal cell, the Merkel cell, and the terminal(s) of a large myelinated sensory nerve (Halata, 1975; Diamond, 1979). Though the cell was first …