Specialized cutaneous Schwann cells initiate pain sensation

• DOI: 10.1126/science.aax6452
• Publication Date: 2019-08-15T23:06:04Z
• Authors: Hind Abdo; Laura Calvo-Enrique; Jose Martinez Lopez; Jianren Song; Ming-Dong Zhang; Dmitry Usoskin; Abdeljabbar El Ma...; Igor Adameyko; Jens Hjerling-Lef...; Patrik Ernfors
• Keywords: Male; Pain Threshold; Physiology; 2411 Fisiología Humana; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Nerve Fibers; Animals; Skin; Neurons; 2403 Bioquímica; 0303 health sciences; SOXE Transcription Factors; Nociceptors; Pain Perception; Thermoreceptors; Estímulo doloroso; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Optogenetics; 2490 Neurociencias; Female; Schwann Cells; Dolor; Nervio; Mechanoreceptors

A newly discovered cell type for pain perception

Pain has been thought to be initiated by activation of free nerve endings without end organs in the skin. In contrast to this paradigm, Abdo et al. discovered a previously unknown meshlike organ covering the skin that senses dangerous environmental stimuli (see the Perspective by Doan and Monk). This organ is built from specialized glial cells located in the epidermal-dermal border and is sufficient and required for initiation of mechanical pain transduction.

Science , this issue p. 695 ; see also p. 641