paracrine

(adjective)

Describes a hormone or other secretion released from endocrine cells into the surrounding tissue rather than into the bloodstream.

Related Terms

Examples of paracrine in the following topics:

  • Forms of Signaling

    • The major types of signaling mechanisms that occur in multicellular organisms are paracrine, endocrine, autocrine, and direct signaling.
    • Signals that act locally between cells that are close together are called paracrine signals.
    • Paracrine signals move by diffusion through the extracellular matrix.
    • One example of paracrine signaling is the transfer of signals across synapses between nerve cells.
    • This is different from paracrine signaling in which local concentrations of ligands can be very high.

  • Bone Remodeling

    • Osteoblasts and osteoclasts, coupled together via paracrine cell signaling, are referred to as bone remodeling units.
    • The cells also use paracrine signalling to control the activity of each other.

  • Types of Cells in the Pancreas

    • The islets of Langerhans can influence each other through paracrine and autocrine communication.
    • The paracrine feedback system is based on the following correlations:

  • Overview of the Endocrine System

    • Additionally the endocrine system is differentiated from shorter distance signaling such as autocrine (a cell affecting itself), juxtacrine (a cell affecting it's direct neighbors), and paracrine (a cell affecting other nearby cells) signaling.

  • Gastric Phase

    • Histamine is a paracrine secretion from the enteroendocrine cells in the gastric glands.

  • Glandular Epithelia

    • It secretes its essential product without the use of a duct directly into the bloodstream or else by diffusion into its surrounding tissue (paracrine signaling) where it often affects only target cells near the release site.

  • Mammary Glands

    • In this stage, mammary gland development depends on systemic (and maternal) hormones, but is also under the local regulation of paracrine communication between neighboring epithelial and mesenchymal cells by parathyroid hormone-related protein.
    • As one of the transcribed genes, Wnts secreted from mammary epithelial cells act paracrinely to induce more neighboring cells branching.

  • Stages of Bone Development

    • Osteoblasts and osteoclasts, coupled together via paracrine cell signalling, are referred to as bone remodeling unit.

  • Overview of Pancreatic Islets

    • The feedback system of the pancreatic islets is paracrine—it is based on the activation and inhibition of the islet cells by the endocrine hormones produced in the islets.