title: Possible role of epidermal keratinocytes in the construction of acupuncture meridians.
abstract: Acupuncture meridians consist of a network of acupuncture points on the skin, stimulation of which is well established to have a variety of physiological effects. We have previously demonstrated that epidermal keratinocytes contain multiple sensory systems for temperature, mechanical stimuli, electric potentials and other stimuli. These sensory systems generate changes in the calcium-ion concentration in the epidermis, so epidermal keratinocytes can generate spatially-localized electro-physiological patterns in the skin. We have previously demonstrated signaling between epidermal keratinocytes and peripheral nerve systems. Therefore, stimuli sensed by epidermal keratinocytes might be transferred to the unmyelinated nerve fibers that are known to exist in the epidermis and, thence, to the spinal cord and brain. We propose that epidermal keratinocytes form an information-gathering network in the skin and that this network plays a key role in whole-body homeostasis in response to the changing environment. We also hypothesize that this network corresponds to the acupuncture meridians. As supporting examples, we present some striking calcium propagation patterns observed in cultured human keratinocytes after adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) stimulation. These results support the ideas that keratinocytes can generate spatially-restricted signaling patterns after environmental stimulation and that the cultures might be in-vitro models of meridians as an information-gathering network in skin.
authors.affiliation: Shiseido Research Center, Yokohama, Japan; Japan Science and Technology Agency, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: mitsuhiro.denda@to.shiseido.co.jp.
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Denda
authors.affiliation: Shiseido Research Center, Yokohama, Japan; Japan Science and Technology Agency, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Moe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsutsumi
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D000078404:Epidermal Cells; D004817:Epidermis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D042541:Intracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D016740:Meridians
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D002118:Calcium
keywords: calcium ion; epidermis; ion channel; nerve system