KEY POINTS

An ex vivo preparation was developed to record from single sensory fibres innervating the glabrous skin of the mouse forepaw. The density of mechanoreceptor innervation of the forepaw glabrous skin was found to be three times higher than that of hindpaw glabrous skin. Rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors that innervate Meissner's corpuscles were severalfold more responsive to slowly moving stimuli in the forepaw compared to those innervating hindpaw skin. We found a distinct group of small hairs in the centre of the mouse hindpaw glabrous skin that were exclusively innervated by directionally sensitive D-hair receptors. The directional sensitivity, but not the end-organ anatomy, were the opposite to D-hair receptors in the hairy skin. Glabrous skin hairs in the hindpaw are not ubiquitous in rodents, but occur in African and North American species that diverged more than 65 million years ago.

ABSTRACT

Rodents use their forepaws to actively interact with their tactile environment. Studies on the physiology and anatomy of glabrous skin that makes up the majority of the forepaw are almost non-existent in the mouse. Here we developed a preparation to record from single sensory fibres of the forepaw and compared anatomical and physiological receptor properties to those of the hindpaw glabrous and hairy skin. We found that the mouse forepaw skin is equipped with a very high density of mechanoreceptors; >3 times more than hindpaw glabrous skin. In addition, rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors that innervate Meissner's corpuscles of the forepaw were severalfold more sensitive to slowly moving mechanical stimuli compared to their counterparts in the hindpaw glabrous skin. All other mechanoreceptor types as well as myelinated nociceptors had physiological properties that were invariant regardless of which skin area they occupied. We discovered a novel D-hair receptor innervating a small group of hairs in the middle of the hindpaw glabrous skin in mice. These glabrous skin D-hair receptors were direction sensitive albeit with an orientation sensitivity opposite to that described for hairy skin D-hair receptors. Glabrous skin hairs do not occur in all rodents, but are present in North American and African rodent species that diverged more than 65 million years ago. The function of these specialized hairs is unknown, but they are nevertheless evolutionarily very ancient. Our study reveals novel physiological specializations of mechanoreceptors in the glabrous skin that likely evolved to facilitate tactile exploration.