Merkel Cells Encode Touch through Adrenergic Synapses

For more information, see Hoffman et al., Neuron 100/6, http://www.cell.com/neuron/ful....ltext/S0896-6273(18)

Hoffman et al. reveal the machinery underlying neurotransmission at a gentle-touch receptor. Employing Eccles’ classical criteria for a chemical synapse, they show that epithelial Merkel cells communicate with sensory neurons through β2-adrenergic receptors at excitatory synapses.