image: These are pacinian corpuscles in the periosteum (the membrane around bones) of the lower leg of mice. Pacinian corpuscles are mechanoreceptors that are abundant in human palms and fingers, but in rodents they cluster in periostea. They are particularly sensitive to high-frequency vibration. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the Feb. 17, 2012, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by H. Wende at Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany, and colleagues was titled, “The Transcription Factor c-Maf Controls Touch Receptor Development and Function.” view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Hagen Wende and Carmen Birdmeier