Merkel cells are a touchy subject.
How the Merkel cell-neurite complex transduces and encodes touch remains unclear. Ikeda et al. now implicate Merkel cells as the primary sites of tactile transduction and the ion channel Piezo2 as the chief mechanotransducer. Surprisingly, Merkel cells also mediate allodynia, providing a new cellular target for chronic pain treatment.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 450 Brookline Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: qiufu_ma@dfci.harvard.edu.
Qiufu
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Ma
D000818:Animals; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D018862:Merkel Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D014110:Touch; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*
D007473:Ion Channels; C000589204:piezo2 protein, rat