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. 2011 Sep;138(3):291-301.
doi: 10.1085/jgp.201110637.

Perspectives on: information and coding in mammalian sensory physiology: probing mammalian touch transduction

Diana M Bautista  1 , Ellen A Lumpkin
Affiliations

Perspectives on: information and coding in mammalian sensory physiology: probing mammalian touch transduction

Diana M Bautista et al. J Gen Physiol. 2011 Sep.

Erratum in

  • J Gen Physiol. 2011 Dec;138(6):653
No abstract available

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Cutaneous touch receptors. Mechanosensory afferents innervating mammalian skin display morphological and functional diversity. Cartoons depict end-organs in hairy skin (left) and glabrous skin (right), although innervation density is not meant to be representative. For physiologically defined afferent classes, typical action potential trains evoked by touch stimuli are schematized (center). Thickly myelinated Aβ afferents (blue shades) are touch receptors that display RA or SA responses to mechanical stimuli. RA afferents innervate hair follicles, Pacinian corpuscles, and Meissner’s corpuscles. SAI afferents innervate epidermal Merkel cells (yellow), and SAII afferents are thought to innervate Ruffini endings. Thinly myelinated Aδ afferents (green shades) include down-hair afferents and A-mechanonociceptors. C-afferents (red and magenta), which surround hair follicles (Park et al., 2003) and abundantly innervate the epidermis, include peptidergic nociceptors, nonpeptidergic nociceptors, and C low-threshold mechanoreceptors.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Piezo1 and Piezo2 are candidate mechanotransduction molecules. (A) Predicted hydropathy plots for Piezo1 and Piezo2 proteins. The plot displays putative transmembrane (red), intracellular (black), and extracellular (gray) domains, as predicted by the TMHMM 2.0 server. (B) Mechanically activated currents in HEK293T cells expressing Piezo1 (FAM38A; left) or Piezo2 (FAM38B; right). Representative inward currents in response to a series of 1-µm mechanical steps applied via a glass probe. Whole cell recordings performed at −80 mV. B is modified with permission from Coste et al. (2010).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Cell-based assays to probe mechanotransduction. (A) Application of hypo-osmotic solutions causes stretch-evoked calcium signals in DRG neurons. (B) Radial stretch of DRG neurons grown on silastic membranes elicits dose-dependent calcium influx. (C) Membrane suction activates stretch-activated channels while focal pressure applied to the DRG soma triggers calcium influx in cultured DRG neurons. (D) Focal pressure applied to the neurites of sensory neurons elicits RA, IA, and SA currents. D is modified with permission from Lechner et al. (2009. EMBO J. 28:1479–1491).
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