TY - JOUR
T1 - The functional organization of cutaneous low-threshold mechanosensory neurons
AU - Li, Lishi
AU - Rutlin, Michael
AU - Abraira, Victoria E.
AU - Cassidy, Colleen
AU - Kus, Laura
AU - Gong, Shiaoching
AU - Jankowski, Michael P.
AU - Luo, Wenqin
AU - Heintz, Nathaniel
AU - Koerber, H. Richard
AU - Woodbury, C. Jeffery
AU - Ginty, David D.
PY - 2011/12/23
Y1 - 2011/12/23
N2 - Innocuous touch of the skin is detected by distinct populations of neurons, the low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs), which are classified as Aβ-, Aδ-, and C-LTMRs. Here, we report genetic labeling of LTMR subtypes and visualization of their relative patterns of axonal endings in hairy skin and the spinal cord. We found that each of the three major hair follicle types of trunk hairy skin (guard, awl/auchene, and zigzag hairs) is innervated by a unique and invariant combination of LTMRs; thus, each hair follicle type is a functionally distinct mechanosensory end organ. Moreover, the central projections of Aβ-, Aδ-, and C-LTMRs that innervate the same or adjacent hair follicles form narrow LTMR columns in the dorsal horn. These findings support a model of mechanosensation in which the activities of Aβ-, Aδ-, and C-LTMRs are integrated within dorsal horn LTMR columns and processed into outputs that underlie the perception of myriad touch sensations. PaperClip:
AB - Innocuous touch of the skin is detected by distinct populations of neurons, the low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs), which are classified as Aβ-, Aδ-, and C-LTMRs. Here, we report genetic labeling of LTMR subtypes and visualization of their relative patterns of axonal endings in hairy skin and the spinal cord. We found that each of the three major hair follicle types of trunk hairy skin (guard, awl/auchene, and zigzag hairs) is innervated by a unique and invariant combination of LTMRs; thus, each hair follicle type is a functionally distinct mechanosensory end organ. Moreover, the central projections of Aβ-, Aδ-, and C-LTMRs that innervate the same or adjacent hair follicles form narrow LTMR columns in the dorsal horn. These findings support a model of mechanosensation in which the activities of Aβ-, Aδ-, and C-LTMRs are integrated within dorsal horn LTMR columns and processed into outputs that underlie the perception of myriad touch sensations. PaperClip:
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cell.2011.11.027
DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2011.11.027
M3 - Article
C2 - 22196735
AN - SCOPUS:84455178983
SN - 0092-8674
VL - 147
SP - 1615
EP - 1627
JO - Cell
JF - Cell
IS - 7
ER -