| Islet Cell |
Article Index for Islet |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT ISLETS OF LANGERHANS | |
| endocrine pancreas | |
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The Endocrine (i.e., Hormone -producing) cells of the Pancreas are grouped in the islets of Langerhans. Discovered in 1869 by the German pathological anatomist Paul Langerhans , the islets of Langerhans constitute approximately 1 to 2% of the mass of the pancreas. There are about one million islets in a healthy adult human pancreas, which are interspersed evenly throughout the organ, and their combined weight is 1 to 1.5 grams. Each islet contains approximately one thousand cells and is 50-500 μm in diameter. Hormones produced in the Islets of Langerhans are secreted directly into the blood flow by (at least) four different types of cells:
Islets can influence each other through Paracrine and Autocrine communication, and beta-cells are coupled electrically to beta-cells (but not to other cell-types). The paracrine feedback system of the islets of Langerhans has the following structure:
Electrical activity of pancreatic islets has been studied using Patch Clamp techniques, and it has turned out that the behaviour of cells in intact islets differs significantly from the behaviour of dispersed cells. |
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