Concept

Acinus

An acinus (ˈæsᵻnəs; : acini; adjective, acinar ˈæsᵻnər or acinous) refers to any cluster of cells that resembles a many-lobed "berry," such as a raspberry (acinus is Latin for "berry"). The berry-shaped termination of an exocrine gland, where the secretion is produced, is acinar in form, as is the alveolar sac containing multiple alveoli in the lungs. Acinar exocrine glands are found in many organs, including: the stomach the sebaceous gland of the scalp the salivary glands of the tongue the liver the lacrimal glands the mammary glands the pancreas the bulbourethral (Cowper's) glands The thyroid follicles can also be considered of acinar formation but in this case the follicles, being part of an endocrine gland, act as a hormonal deposit rather than to facilitate secretion. Mucous acini usually stain pale, while serous acini usually stain dark. The end of the terminal bronchioles in the lungs mark the beginning of a pulmonary acinus that includes the respiratory bronchioles, alveolar ducts, alveolar sacs, and alveoli.

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acinus

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related lectures (5)

Sweat Glands Morphology

Discusses the morphology and classification of sweat glands, exocrine gland secretions, and examples from the pancreas and salivary glands.

Pancreas Microscopic Structure

Explores the microscopic structure of the pancreas and its cellular components.

Anatomy of Digestive System

Explores the anatomy of the digestive system and the parotid gland.

Related publications (1)

Role of BMP signalling in the developing pancreas

The pancreas is an organ of endodermal origin. It is composed of two different tissues; exocrine (acini and ducts) and endocrine (islet of Langerhans). The Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMP) are secreted growth factors from the TGFβ superfamily. These proteins are implicated in numerous biological responses in various cell types. A recent study in mice showed the importance of BMP signalling for the normal function of adult β cells. Indeed, an inactivation of this pathway leads to impaired glucose homeostasi

2008

Related concepts (1)

Liver

The liver is a major metabolic organ only found in vertebrate animals, which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it is located in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, below the diaphragm and mostly shielded by the lower right rib cage. Its other metabolic roles include carbohydrate metabolism, the production of hormones, conversion and storage of nutrients such as glucose and glycogen, and the decomposition of red blood cells.

Graph Chat

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.