Mechanosensory neurons lead to the central nervous system touch, vibration and pressure sensation. They project to the periphery and form different kinds of mechanoreceptors. The manner in which they sense mechanical signals is still not fully understood, but electrophysiological experiments have suggested that this may occur through the activation of ion channels that gate in response to mechanical stimuli. The acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), especially ASIC2, may function as mechanosensors or are required for mechanosensation, and they are expressed in both mechanosensory neurons and mechanoreceptors. Here, we have used double immunohistochemistry for ASIC2 together with neuronal and glial markers associated with laser confocal microscopy and image analysis, to investigate the distribution of ASIC2 in human lumbar dorsal root ganglia, as well as in mechanoreceptors of the hand and foot glabrous skin. In lumbar dorsal root ganglia, ASIC2 immunoreactive neurons were almost all intermediate or large sized (mean diameter ≥20-70 µm), and no ASIC2 was detected in the satellite glial. ASIC2-positive axons were observed in Merkel cell-neurite complexes, Meissner and Pacinian corpuscles, all of them regarded as low-threshold mechanoreceptors. Moreover, a variable percent of Meissner (8 %) and Pacinian corpuscles (27 %) also displayed ASIC2 immunoreactivity in the Schwann-related cells. These results demonstrate the distribution of ASIC2 in the human cutaneous mechanosensory system and suggest the involvement of ASIC2 in mechanosensation.
Some mechanoreceptors in mammals depend totally or in part on the neurotrophins brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-4 (NT-4), and their receptor TrkB, for development and maintenance. These actions are presumably exerced regulating the survival of discrete sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia which form mechanoreceptors at the periphery. In addition, the cells forming the mechanoreceptors also express both neurotrophins and their receptors although large differences have been described among species. Pacinian corpuscles are rapidly adapting low-threshold mechanoreceptors whose dependence from neurotrophins is not known. In the present study, we analyzed expression of TrkB and their ligands BDNF and NT-4 in the cutaneous Pacinian corpuscles of Macaca fascicularis using immunohistochemistry and fluorescent microscopy. TrkB immunoreactivity was found in Pacinian corpuscles where it co-localized with neuron-specific enolase, and occasionally with S100 protein, thus suggesting that TrkB expression is primarily into axons but also in the lamellar cells and even in the outer core. On the other hand, BDNF immunoreactivity was found the inner core cells where it co-localized with S100 protein but also in the innermost layers of the outer core; NT-4 immunostaining was not detected. These results describe for the first time the expression and distribution of a full neurotrophin system in the axon-inner core complex of mature Pacinian corpuscles. The data support previous findings demonstrating large differences in the expression of BDNF-TrkB in mammalian mechanoreceptors, and also suggest the existence of a retrograde trophic signaling mechanism to maintain morphological and functional integrity of sensory neurons supplying Pacinian corpuscles. Anat Rec, 298:624-629, 2015
Epidermoid cyst of the testis is an uncommon benign tumour, with an overall incidence of 1-2% of all resected testicular masses. When imaging findings suggest that an intratesticular mass is likely to be an epidermoid cyst, conservative management (enucleation with testicular preservation) can be performed rather than orchidectomy. This case report records an epidermoid cyst in a 12-year-old boy in whom the US findings allowed testis-sparing surgery instead of orchidectomy.
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