We have known about a skin touch sensor for more than 160 years. MDC scientists now publish in Nature Neuroscience some of the first proof of its involvement in detecting tiny vibrations that help us to distinguish between a rough or a smooth surface.
A large protein produced in a unique structure in the fingertips, called the Meissner corpuscle, plays a major role in touch sensitivity, new research finds. Identified in the 1850s by Georg Meissner, the Meissner corpuscle is an oval-shaped capsule found in the fingertips and lips, filled with cells intertwined with a nerve ending that sends a “touch” signal to the brain.
“For a century and half, people have looked at the Meissner corpuscle and said ‘this is a beautiful structure, but we don’t really know what it’s there for,’” says Professor Gary Lewin, who heads the Molecular Physiology of Somatic Sensation Lab at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association. In a new publication in the journal Nature Neuroscience, he and his team show that a protein made by the Meissner corpuscle is required to maintain normal touch perception.
Photo credit: © Lewin Lab, MDC