In vitro analysis of interactions between sensory neurons and skin: evidence for selective innervation of dermis and epidermis.

Axons from dorsal root ganglion cells cultured in a serum-free medium on poly-L-lysine or collagen substrates interact differently with dermis and epidermis. The orientation of neurite growth is not changed by encountering mesenchymal cells migrating from the outgrowth zone of a dermal explant, and neurites form close membrane associations with some dermal cells; in contrast, neurites strongly avoid epidermis and deviate around the edge of an epidermal explant. When cultures are grown on polylysine this avoidance behaviour occurs at a distance from the epidermis. It is suppressed in the presence of necrotic epidermal cells. We suggest that this avoidance is due to epidermal diffusible factor(s) which bind preferentially to polylysine. The possibility of an absence of specific recognition cues between neurites and epidermal cells is discussed.