Question

Meissner’s corpuscles are located in
A. Pancreas and secrete trypsinogen
B. Adrenal and secrete trypsinogen
C. Spleen and destroy erythrocytes
D. Skin and perceive gentle pressure

Answer 1

Hint:- Meissner’s corpuscles are tactile corpuscles. They are a type of mechanoreceptors. They were discovered in 1852 by two physiologists George Meissner and Rudolf Wagner. Thus, these receptors are also known as Wagner-Meissner corpuscles

Complete step-by-step solution:-
Mechanoreceptors sense stimuli when there is a physical deformation of their plasma membranes. The membranes contain mechanically-gated ion channels. The gates of these channels open or close in response to pressure, touch, stretching, and sound. Meissner’s corpuscle is one of the four primary tactile mechanoreceptors found in human skin.
Meissner’s corpuscles are specialized encapsulated nerve endings present in the glabrous skin. They are found in the upper dermis, but more or so project into the epidermis. They are very sensitive to light touch and pressure. They can sense fine touch and low frequency vibrations on skin and send signals to the central nervous system.
They are ellipsoid in shape and superficially located in the dermal papilla at a depth of 150µmeters. Each corpuscle is formed of elongated Schwann cells, a connective tissue capsule, and a central axon. These encapsulated neurons are small fluid-filled rapidly – adapting receptors having well-defined borders. They are responsive to even fine sensations on the skin.
So, the correct answer is (D), Skin and perceive gentle pressure.
Additional information:
Apart from Meissner’s corpuscles there are three more mechanoreceptors that are found in the human skin. These are Merkel’s disks located toward the surface of the skin, Ruffini endings and Pacinian corpuscle both located deeper in the surface of the skin.

Note:- Meissner’s corpuscles are most concentrated in thick hairless skin, especially on fingertips and eyelids. They have very high sensitivity even at the lowest threshold. They can easily sense vibrations between 10 and 50 Hertz.