MERKEL,FRIEDRICH,SIGMUND (1845-1919) AND HIS CELL

Friedrich Sigmund Merkel was one of the leading anatomists and histopa thologists of the late 19th century. In search of direct junctions bet ween neurites and epidermal cells he dicovered the basic touch sensiti ve organ, describing it as ''touch cell'' in 1875. Several other scien tists were also engaged int he same field. One of them was Robert Bonn et, who eponymously named this cell after Merkel. The image of the Mer kel cell has been completed during the years. They have been identifie d as neuroendocrine cells, but still it remains undecided wether or no t the neuroendocrine tumor called ''Merkel cell carcinoma'' derives fr om Merkel cells.