J Physiol Society Membership
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


J Physiol Vol 320 pp 219-228
Copyright © 1981 by The Physiological Society
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Blackshaw, S E
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Blackshaw, S E

Morphology and distribution of touch cell terminals in the skin of the leech.

S E Blackshaw

1. The receptor terminals of individual mechanosensory neurones responding to light touch (T cells) have been visualized directly in the skin of the leech by injecting horseradish peroxidase (HRP) into their cell bodies in the central nervous system. The axons of injected cells could be followed from their origin in the neuropile of the ganglion to their terminals in the skin. 2. The axons of T cells run through ipsilateral nerve roots in the body wall to the base of the layer of epithelial cells in the skin. Here axons branch extensively and turn between the epithelial cells to end a few microns from the skin surface. These terminals are situated in intercellular spaces immediately below the junctional complex joining the outer ends of the epithelial cells. 3. The T cell terminals are free nerve endings with a beaded appearance; they contain large mitochondria and clusters of vesicles. 4. An individual T cell makes about 100 endings within a square millimetre of skin in the centre of its territory, and is estimated to make a total of several hundred endings. 5. The distribution of T cell endings observed directly agrees with physiological studies of receptive field organization and emphasizes the high degree of specificity of connexions of these neurones with their peripheral targets.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
J. Neurophysiol.Home page
M. J. Rodriguez, I. R. Iscla, and L. Szczupak
Modulation of Mechanosensory Responses by Motoneurons That Regulate Skin Surface Topology in the Leech
J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2004; 91(5): 2366 - 2375.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
S. A. Baccus
Synaptic facilitation by reflected action potentials: Enhancement of transmission when nerve impulses reverse direction at axon branch points
PNAS, July 7, 1998; 95(14): 8345 - 8350.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1981 The Physiological Society.