Development of a Receptor on a Foreign Nerve Fiber in a Pacinian Corpuscle

Abstract

When the sensory fiber of a Pacinian corpuscle (in cat mesentery) is transected (at the inferior mesenteric nerve) transduction fails within 30 hours: the nerve ending produces no generator potentials in response to mechanical stimulation. Electrically elicited nerve impulse conduction continues for at least another 18 hours. A transducer mechanism develops on a regenerating nerve fiber when this fiber enters the denervated corpuscle. Such transducer development takes place on myelinated fibers from the inferior mesenteric nerve, which normally supplies corpuscles, as well as on myelinated hypogastric nerve fibers, which normally do not go to corpuscles, including fibers larger than the original corpuscle afferents.

Functional reorganization in somatosensory cortical areas 3b and 1 of adult monkeys after median nerve repair: possible relationships to sensory recovery in humans

“…Their appearance following nerve regeneration suggests several possibilities, including altered functioning of reinnervated receptors and cross-reinnervation of pacinian corpuscles by sensory axons previously specialized differently. Other observations on pacinian corpuscles are consistent with the latter possibility (Schiff and Loewenstein, 1972).…”

“…By comparison, pacinian corpuscles remain largely unchanged for many months or years after denervation (Glees et al, 1949;Lee, 1936;Miller and Rusenas, 1976;Schiff and Loewenstein, 1972;Wong and Kanagasuntheram, 197 1;Zelena, 198 1). Peripheral nerves also undergo a variety of structural and functional changes, including (1) reductions in the numbers of cutaneous fibers due to sensory cell death (e.g., Cavanaugh, 1951;Ranson, 1906;Wall and Devor, 1978), entrapment of fibers at repair sites (Sunderland, 1978), or erroneous reinnervation of noncutaneous tissue (Karpati et al, 198 1;Zalewski, 1970); (2) sprouting of regenerating axons into multiple branches that can reestablish cutaneous fields at discontinuous skin sites (Horch and Lisney, 198 1;Mackel et al, 1983b;Terzis and Dykes, 1980); (3) decreases in axonal conduction velocity (Buchtal and Kuhl, 1979;Burgess and Horch, 1973;Cragg and Thomas, 196 1;Hallin et al, 198 1;Horch, 1976;Horch and Lisney, 198 1;Rosenfalck, 1980;Terzis, 198 1;Terzis and Dykes, 1980); (4) alterations in topographical organization of nerves due to haphazard growth of regenerated axons to abnormal skin locations (Hallin et al, 1981;Horch, 1979;Terzis, 198 1); (5) some cross-reinnervation of the wrong type of receptor organ by regenerated axons (Burgess and Horch, 1973;Burgess et al, 1974;Horch, 1976Horch, , 1979Horch and Burgess, 1980;Schiff and Loewenstein, 1972); (6) reestablishment ofcutaneous receptive fields that usually range in size from small to norm...…”

Role of the Sympathetic Innervation of the Pacinian Corpuscle

“…Sections of cat mesentery and mesocolon containing one or more pacinian corpuscles were removed under Nembutal anesthesia. The methods of mounting the preparations, of mechanically stimulating individual pacinian corpuscles by an electrically driven piezoelectric crystal, and of recording propagated responses have been described previously (Schiff and Loewenstein, 1972).…”