Parafollicular cells

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Parafollicular cells (also called C cells) are cells in the thyroid which produce and secrete calcitonin. They are located adjacent to the thyroid follicles and reside in the connective tissue. These cells are large and have a pale stain compared with the follicular cells or colloid.

Embryologically, they associate with the ultimobranchial body, which itself is a ventral derivative of the fourth (or fifth^[1]) pharyngeal pouch. Parafollicular cells themselves are derived from Neural Crest cells. They are not numerous in the thyroid, and are typically situated basally in the epithelium, without direct contact with the follicular lumen. They are always situated within the basement membrane which surrounds the entire follicle.

When parafollicular cells become cancerous, they lead to medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.

[edit] See also

• follicular cell

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Histology at OU 42_04
• Histology at Boston University 14302loa
• Template:KansasHistology
• Anatomy Atlases - Microscopic Anatomy, plate 15.287

v·d·e Human anatomy, endocrine system: endocrine glands
Hypothalamic/ pituitary axes	v·d·e Thyroid axis Thyroid gland (Parafollicular cell, Thyroid epithelial cell, Thyroid isthmus, Lobes of thyroid gland, Pyramid of thyroid) Parathyroid gland (Oxyphil cell, Chief cell) Adrenal axis: Adrenal gland v·d·e Medulla Chromaffin cells Cortex Zona glomerulosa · Zona fasciculata · Zona reticularis Paraganglia Organ of Zuckerkandl · Aortic body · Carotid body Gonadal axis Testes · Ovaries · Corpus luteum Pituitary v·d·e Posterior pituitary Pars nervosa · Median eminence · Infundibular stalk · Pituicyte · Herring bodies Anterior pituitary Pars intermedia · Pars tuberalis · Pars distalis · Acidophils (Somatotropes, Lactotropes) · Basophils (Corticotropes, Gonadotropes, Thyrotropes)
Pineal gland	Pinealocyte · Corpora arenacea
Islets of pancreas	Alpha cell · Beta cell · Delta cell · PP cell · Epsilon cell

Template:Human cell types

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Parafollicular cell. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.