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Islets of LangerhansThe endocrine (i.e. hormone-producing) cells of the pancreas are grouped in the so-called Islets of Langerhans. Discovered in 1869 by the German pathological anatomist Paul Langerhans (1847-1888), the Islets of Langerhans constitute 1-2% of the mass of the pancreas. There are about 1 million of them and their combined weight is 1 to 1.5 gram. Each islet contains a few thousand cells and is 0.2-0.5mm in diameter. Hormones produced in the Islets of Langerhans are secreted directly into the blood flow by (at least) four different types of cells: * 65-80% of the islet cells are insulin-producing beta cells. * The second most abundant cell type is the glucagon-releasing alpha cells (15-20%). Additionally, Islets of Langerhans contain * somatostatin-producing delta cells (3-10%) * and pancreatic polypeptide-containing PP cells (1%). Islet cells 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 feed-back system of the Islets of Langerhans has the following structure: *Insulin: Activates beta-cells, inhibits alpha-cells. *Glucagon: Activates beta-cells and delta-cells. *Somatostatin: Inhibits alpha-cells and beta-cells. Electrical activity of pancreatic islet-cells has been studied using the patch-clamp technique, and it has turned out that the behaviour of cells in intact islets differs significantly from the behaviour of dispersed cells. Eponymous anatomical structures Endocrine pancreas Islets of LangerhansI am wondering, would it be okay to say the cells can be transplanted from one patient ot another as an attempt to treat type 1 diabetes [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4459523.stm] == Not quite yet? == "Diabetes experts caution that the procedure has been performed only once and in a patient whose diabetes was not typical" http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-04-18-transplant-diabetes_x.htm See other meanings of words starting from letter: IIA | IB | IC | ID | IE | IF | IG | IH | IJ | IK | IL | IM | IN | IO | IP | IR | IS | IT | IU | IW | IX | IY | IZ |Words begining with Islets_of_Langerhans: Islets_of_Langerhans Islets_of_Langerhans |
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