Postnatal differentiation of Merkel cells in the rat palatine mucosa, with special reference to the timing of peripheral nerve development and the potency of cell mitosis

Tachibana, Tamiko; Fujiwara, Naoki; Nawa, Tokio

doi:10.1007/s004290000124

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Several studies have showed that Merkel cells were unable to proliferate in vivo (Tachibana et al, 2000;Moll et al, 1996). Even with stimulation of IL-6 and TNF-α, we did not detect any proliferative ability of Merkel cells.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 87%

Merkel Cell-Nerve Cell Interaction Undergoes Formation of a Synapse-like Structure in a Primary Culture

Shimohira-Yamasaki

Toda

Narisawa

et al. 2006

Cell Struct. Funct.

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ABSTRACT. Merkel cells have been assumed to guide nerve fibers to the skin. However, there has been little in vitro evidence that supports this hypothesis, because there is no suitable established culture system of Merkel cells. Here we show that Merkel cells isolated from rat footpad skin were successfully cultured in a monolayer with keratinocytes. Keratinocytes did not affect any structural changes in Merkel cells. When nerve cells (NG108-15 or PC12) were added to the culture system, both nerve fibers and cytoplasmic processes of Merkel cells outgrew and cooperatively organized synapse-like structures at their contact points. Nerve cells promoted Merkel cell survival, compared with keratinocytes only. Merkel cell proliferation was not detected in all conditions, even with nerve growth factor, neurotrophin-3, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α. The data suggest, firstly, that Merkel cells may guide nerve fibers to the skin by interacting with nerve cells; and, secondly, that nerve cells, but not keratinocytes, may produce some survival factors other than the cytokines above for Merkel cells, although Merkel cells may be a terminally differentiated cell type. Our method could open a way to study Merkel cell biology.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 87%

Merkel Cell-Nerve Cell Interaction Undergoes Formation of a Synapse-like Structure in a Primary Culture

Shimohira-Yamasaki

Toda

Narisawa

et al. 2006

Cell Struct. Funct.

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“…Tweedle demonstrated that Merkel cells could be found in amphibian skin if all presumptive neural tissue, including the neural crest, had previously been removed, and he suggested that Merkel cells are not derived from the neural crest (32). In addition, Tachibana et al reported the development of peripheral nerve terminals in the subepithelial layer of rat fetus palatine mucosa as it was established (24). They suggested the presence of Merkel cells 4 days after birth and the formation of a Merkel cell-neurite complex.…”

Section: Regeneration Capacity Of Merkel Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of the peri-implant epithelium in hamster palatine mucosa: Behavior of Merkel cells and nerve endings

et al. 2005

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Merkel cells and nerve elements during tissue regeneration after receiving dental implants. Golden hamsters were divided into 3 groups and titanium alloy implants were fixed in their left-side maxilla through the third palatine ruga. Animals were sacrificed at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 days after the implantation and tissues were characterized at the immunohistochemical and morphological levels. CK 20 and PGP 9.5 antibodies which react with Merkel cells and nerve fibers were used. Immunohistochemically, no CK20-positive Merkel cells were seen in the peri-implant epithelium throughout the 7 days. However, starting at day 4, PGP 9.5-positive nerve fibers appeared in the connective tissue, and by day 7, nerve fibers had invaded the more superficial layer of the peri-implant epithelium compared to the mucosa removal control group. At the electron microscopic level, the intercellular spaces of the regenerating epithelium in the mucosa removal control group were small. In contrast, intercellular spaces of the peri-implant epithelium tended to be wide and regenerating nerve fibers invaded those intercellular spaces. In both the mucosa removal control group and the implantation group, the basal lamina and connective tissues regenerated completely. However, clear Merkel cells containing neurosecretory granules were not observed. Taken together, our results indicate that Merkel cells in the hamster palatine mucosa do not regenerate in the peri-implant epithelium. However, regenerative nerve fibers seem to play essential roles as part of the defense and sensory systems around the peri-implant epithelium to compensate for the weakened defense mechanism.It is well known that Merkel cells play an important role in tissues as a sensory system for pressure (8,16,28). Previous studies have revealed that Merkel cells are widely distributed in human oral mucosal tissues including the lip, hard palate and mandibular gingiva (1, 13). A fundamental, ultrastructural study of rodent oral mucosa demonstrated that two types of Merkel cells, with dendritic or roundish shapes, are recognized. Most dendritic Merkel cells are free of innervations while the roundish ones are innervated (26). In addition, Merkel cell-neurite complexes are considered to be slowly adapting type I mechanoreceptors in the oral mucosa of the hamster cheek pouch (28,29).The behavior of Merkel cells after denervation has also been elucidated (22), the conclusion being that Merkel cells survive with normal density and appearance in the epidermis after denervation. A study of the behavior of Merkel cells and nerve endings after partial excision of the lip has shown that Merkel cells and nerve fibers are regenerated (25). However, there have been no reports on the behavior of Merkel cells and/or nerve endings in re-

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“…In previous studies, it was described that an immunopositive reaction for anti-CK18 was observed transiently on the cells of palatine rugae epithelium during rat palatine development and these anti-CK18 immunopositive cells showed a taste bud-like structure by transmission electron microscope 23), 24) . Therefore, the authors investigated immunohistochemically the characteristics of the immunopositive cells for anti-CK18 during mouse palatine rugae in taste bud 11),12) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Alteration of the Cytokeratin Expression During Palatine Rugae Development in Mice

Yamamoto

Muramatsu

Shibukawa

et al. 2011

J. Hard Tissue Biology.

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During palatine rugae development in mice, a cell cluster appeared transiently in the palatine rugae epithelium. The characteristics of these cells were examined histologically and immunohistochemically for anticytokeratin (CK) and anti-protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5) antibodies using mice from embryonic day 15 (E15) to postnatal day 1 (PN1). At E15, the epithelium of both palatine rugae located in the anterior portion and inter-rugae area consisted of 2-3 cell layers, and palatine rugae have papillae under the epithelium. However, palatine rugae located in the posterior portion have cell clusters in the epithelium. These cells expressed immunopositive reactions for anti-CK18, although they did not react with anti-CK14. Under the anti-CK18 immunopositive cell cluster in palatine rugae epithelium, anti-PGP9.5 immunoreactivity was observed in papillae. Moreover, the basal cells of the cell cluster showed anti-CK7 immunoreactivity. The cell cluster in palatine rugae epithelium disappeared gradually and anti-CK18 immunopositive cells also disappeared. However, anti-PGP9.5 immunoreactivity in the papilla was maintained after the disappearance of anti-CK18 immunoactivity in the palatine rugae epithelium. At PN1, the epithelium of the palate, including the palatine rugae, was stratified and keratinized. These findings suggested that the cell cluster in the palatine rugae epithelium may be considered as a taste bud-like structure according to the expression pattern for anti-CK and may play an important role in nerve innervation to the papilla under the palatine rugae epithelium.

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Postnatal differentiation of Merkel cells in the rat palatine mucosa, with special reference to the timing of peripheral nerve development and the potency of cell mitosis

Cited by 17 publications

References 38 publications

Merkel Cell-Nerve Cell Interaction Undergoes Formation of a Synapse-like Structure in a Primary Culture

Merkel Cell-Nerve Cell Interaction Undergoes Formation of a Synapse-like Structure in a Primary Culture

Characterization of the peri-implant epithelium in hamster palatine mucosa: Behavior of Merkel cells and nerve endings

Alteration of the Cytokeratin Expression During Palatine Rugae Development in Mice

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