Bulboid corpuscle

The bulboid corpuscles (end-bulbs of Krause) are cutaneous receptors in the human body.

Bulboid corpuscle
End-bulb of Krause.
Details
Identifiers
LatinCorpuscula bulboideum
FMA83603
Anatomical terminology

The end-bulbs of Krause were named after the German anatomist Wilhelm Krause (1833–1910).[1][2]

Function

The end-bulbs of Krause were thought to be thermoreceptors, sensing cold temperatures, but their function remained unknown.[3] Recently optogenetic studies revealed their role in sexual stimulation and mating behavior in mice:

"Optogenetic activation of male Krause corpuscle afferent terminals evoked penile erection, while genetic ablation of Krause corpuscles impaired intromission and ejaculation of males as well as reduced sexual receptivity of females. Thus, Krause corpuscles, which are particularly dense in the clitoris, are vibrotactile sensors crucial for normal sexual behavior."[4]

Structure

They are minute cylindrical or oval bodies, consisting of a capsule formed by the expansion of the connective-tissue sheath of a medullated fiber, and containing a soft semifluid core in which the axis-cylinder terminates either in a bulbous extremity or in a coiled-up plexiform mass.

Location

End-bulbs are found in the conjunctiva of the eye (where they are spheroidal in shape in humans, but cylindrical in most other animals), in the mucous membrane of the lips and tongue, and in the epineurium of nerve trunks.

They are also found in the penis and the clitoris and have received the name of genital corpuscles;[5] in these situations they have a mulberry-like appearance, being constricted by connective-tissue septa into from two to six knob-like masses.

In the synovial membranes of certain joints, e. g., those of the fingers, rounded or oval end-bulbs occur, and are designated articular end-bulbs.

References

Public domain This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 1060 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

  1. synd/2425 at Who Named It?
  2. Krause, W. (1860). Die terminalen Körperchen der einfach sensiblen Nerven [The terminal corpuscles of the simple sensory nerves] (in German). Hannover. OCLC 488510746, 14844647, 224361622.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Gartner, Leslie P. (2015). Textbook of Histology. Elsevier Health Sciences. ISBN 978-0-323-39068-2. OCLC 938048317.
  4. Qi, Lijun; Iskols, Michael; Handler, Annie; Ginty, David D. (2023). "Krause corpuscles of the genitalia are vibrotactile sensors required for normal sexual behavior". bioRxiv. doi:10.1101/2023.06.14.545006. PMC 10312780. PMID 37398085.
  5. Cold, C.J.; Taylor, J.R. (27 May 2002). "The prepuce". BJU International. 83 (S1): 34–44. doi:10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1034.x. PMID 10349413. S2CID 30559310.
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