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Abstract
Synaptophysin is a membrane glycoprotein (Mr 38,000) found in small vesicles with clear content. It is present in neurons and in a variety of neuroen-docrine cells and neoplasms, including the neuroen-docrine carcinoma of the skin (Merkel cell tumor). We report the presence of synaptophysinlike immu-noreactivity in normal Merkel cells of the pig-snout epidermis and vibrissae. The immunostaining was primarily localized in the Merkel cell side opposite to the nerve terminal. This fact suggests that in Merkel cells, as well as in other neuroendocrine cells, synaptophysin could occur in small clear vesi-cles (accumulated in Merkel cells in the side oppo-site to the neurite) and not in the secretory gran-ules themselves (which are concentrated in the cellular side apposed to the neurite).
