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Pancreatic alpha cell
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The pancreatic alpha cell is one of the cells of the pancreatic islets, those small clusters of cells scattered inside the pancreas that make hormones. Its hormone is glucagon, the one that tells the body to produce glucose, that is, blood sugar.
It does not work blind; it works according to what it senses around it. It releases glucagon when glucose is low or when amino acids, the pieces that proteins are built from, go up. And it goes quiet when glucose rises, or when insulin, somatostatin and GABA, three neighboring signals inside the same islet, hold it back. The alpha cell switches on when glucose falls and off when it rises.
Its message is delivered to the liver. There glucagon promotes glycogenolysis, which is breaking down stored glycogen to release glucose, and gluconeogenesis, which is making new glucose out of other pieces. And at the same time it blocks glycogen synthesis, that is, storage.
In brief
The pancreatic alpha cell is the islet cell that makes glucagon, the hormone that stimulates glucose production.
It secretes glucagon when glucose falls or amino acids rise; high glucose holds it back, as do insulin, somatostatin and GABA within the islet.
The alpha cell switches on when glucose falls and off when it rises.
The glucagon it releases acts on the liver: it promotes glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis and blocks glycogen synthesis.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Glucagon, StatPearlsPublished
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