Library · Cell
Pancreatic acinar cell
Make it clearer
The pancreas has two jobs in the same organ, and the pancreatic acinar cell is the star of the digestive job, the one called exocrine. That exocrine part begins as small clusters of cells, and each cluster is called an acinus. They hang at the far ends of the pancreatic ducts, like grapes at the tip of a stem.
What those acinar cells do is make enzyme-rich pancreatic juice, and those enzymes break food into pieces the body can use. They release that juice into tiny ducts, which merge with one another until they form two dominant ducts. The larger one joins the common bile duct, the duct that carries bile, just before entering the duodenum, which is the first stretch of the intestine. And scattered through that sea of acini are islands of another kind of cell, the endocrine ones: these are the islets of Langerhans, where the pancreas's other job happens.
In brief
The exocrine part of the pancreas begins as small clusters of cells, each one called an acinus, sitting at the far ends of the pancreatic ducts.
The acini look like clusters of grapes at the tip of each duct.
These acinar cells secrete enzyme-rich pancreatic juice into tiny ducts that merge until they form two dominant ducts.
The larger duct joins the common bile duct just before entering the duodenum, and scattered among the exocrine acini are the endocrine islands, the islets of Langerhans.
Sources (1)
- OpenStax, Rice UniversityAnatomy and Physiology 2e, 23.6 Accessory Organs in Digestion: The Liver, Pancreas, and GallbladderPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated