The Mucocutaneous End-Organ

Morphological study of the sensory innervation of the rat labial mucosa.

“…The density of organized sensory receptors in the oral mucosa is shown to vary with the stage of development of the papillae, and to be high in the mucosal region where the formation of papillae is remarkable (Gairns 1955;Yamamoto et al 1958; Ashino et al 1960;Seto 1972). In the lip mucosa, the number of organized receptors, both the encapsulated corpuscles and the branched terminations, has been reported to increase toward the muco-cutaneous junction, in proportion to the increase in number and size of the papillae (Winkelmann 1957;Yamamoto et al 1958;Ashino et al 1960;Seto 1972). The present investigation revealed that the bush-like nerve endings were situated in the lamina propria close to the epithelium (Fig.…”

The sensory penis: A comprehensive immunohistological and ontogenetic exploration of human penile innervation

“…Winkelmann's 65,66,114 observations on the neonatal and adult prepuce (based on histological analysis of thousands of sections 66 ) further support this notion, indicating that all other types of sensory corpuscles, at least within the prepuce, develop at later fetal stages and attain their characteristic postnatal morphologies only after the neonatal period. A major atlas 115 During the corpuscular stage, we also documented the peripheral axonal branching pattern of nerve fibers in the distal preputial epithelial tips.…”

“…The so-called mucocutaneous end organs, [63][64][65][66] Krause corpuscles, and genital corpuscles belong to a family of sensory corpuscles traditionally associated to sexual sensation, making them of particular interest. 67,68 Notably, as early work by Ramón y Cajal, 30 Dogiel, 29 Ohmori, 31 and others 32,34,36 demonstrated, genital corpuscles are a normal and well-documented component of preputial sensory innervation.…”

Krause corpuscles are genital vibrotactile sensors for sexual behaviours

“…In the late Nineteenth century, Wilhelm Krause first described specialized sensory corpuscles located in human genitalia and other mucocutaneous tissues, including the lips, tongue and conjunctiva of the eye 2 – 4 . He found that corpuscles of the penis and clitoris display either a glomerular shape and contain coiled axons, or they are smaller in size, possess a cylindric shape and contain simple axonal endings.…”

“…He found that corpuscles of the penis and clitoris display either a glomerular shape and contain coiled axons, or they are smaller in size, possess a cylindric shape and contain simple axonal endings. These sensory structures have been assigned a number of names, including mucocutaneous end-organs 2 , Krause corpuscles, Krause end bulbs and genital corpuscles 1 , 6 ; here we use the name ‘Krause corpuscles’ for these sensory end organs of the male and female genitalia. Although the morphological properties of Krause corpuscles were described long ago, their physiological properties and functions have remained a subject of speculation.…”