Three-dimensional architecture and linearized mapping of vibrissa follicle afferents

Ben Gerhardt, Jette Alfken, Jakob Reichmann, Tim Salditt and Michael Brecht ()
Additional contact information
Ben Gerhardt: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Jette Alfken: Universität Göttingen
Jakob Reichmann: Universität Göttingen
Tim Salditt: Universität Göttingen
Michael Brecht: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Understanding vibrissal transduction has advanced by serial sectioning and identified afferent recordings, but afferent mapping onto the complex, encapsulated follicle remains unclear. Here, we reveal male rat C2 vibrissa follicle innervation through synchrotron X-ray phase contrast tomograms. Morphological analysis identified 5% superficial, ~32 % unmyelinated and 63% myelinated deep vibrissal nerve axons. Myelinated afferents consist of each one third Merkel and club-like, and one sixth Ruffini-like and lanceolate endings. Unsupervised clustering of afferent properties aligns with classic morphological categories and revealed previously unrecognized club-like afferent subtypes distinct in axon diameter and Ranvier internode distance. Myelination and axon diameters indicate a proximal-to-distal axon-velocity gradient along the follicle. Axons innervate preferentially dorso-caudally to the vibrissa, presumably to sample contacts from vibrissa protraction. Afferents organize in axon-arms innervating discrete angular territories. The radial axon-arm arrangement around the vibrissa maps into a linear representation of axon-arm bands in the nerve. Such follicle linearization presumably instructs downstream linear brainstem barrelettes. Synchrotron imaging provides a synopsis of afferents and mechanotransductory machinery.

Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-55468-4 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55468-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55468-4

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().