Neurotrophin-3 signaling in mammalian Merkel cell development

✍ Scribed by Viktor Szeder; Miloš Grim; Jan Kucera; Maya Sieber-Blum

• Book ID: 102817418
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 535 KB
• Volume: 228
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1058-8388
• DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.10403

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Merkel cells are sensory cells of neural crest origin. Because little is known about the mechanisms that direct their differentiation, we have investigated the potential role of a candidate regulatory factor, neurotrophin‐3 (NT‐3). At embryonic day 16.5 (E 16.5), neither NT‐3 nor its primary receptors, TrkC and p75NTR are expressed by Merkel cells in the murine whisker. At the time of birth, however, Merkel cells are immunoreactive for NT‐3, TrkC and p75NTR. In TrkC null and NT‐3 null mice, Merkel cells differentiate initially, but undergo apoptosis perinatally. These results show that NT‐3 signaling is not required for the differentiation of Merkel cells, but that it is essential for their postnatal survival. Developmental Dynamics 228:623–629, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.