The acquisition of specificity in cutaneous sensory neurons: a reconsideration of the integumental specification hypothesis.

Neuronal specificity in cutaneous sensory nerve cells has been postulated to arise from "inductive interactions" between the cell's randomly outgrown peripheral neurite and local biochemical markers in the skin. Here was apply this integumental specification hypothesis to data recently obtained on the wiping-reflex behavior of frogs skin-grafted at various times during larval life. Deductions are generated about the developmental time course of the postulated nerve-skin interactions and two predictions are formulated and tested. Because the results of serial skin rotation experiments contradict the predictions, we conclude that the currently held hypothesis must be seriously questioned.