2-Tissue Levels of Organization - Ms. Asma - 17.03.2024-1
2-Tissue Levels of Organization - Ms. Asma - 17.03.2024-1
2-Tissue Levels of Organization - Ms. Asma - 17.03.2024-1
➢ Apocrine glands accumulate their secretory product at the apical surface of the
secreting cell. Then, that portion of the cell pinches off by exocytosis from the rest of
the cell to release the secretion (Figure 4.7b). The cell repairs itself and repeats the
process. Electron microscopy has confirmed that this is the mechanism of secretion of
milk fats in the mammary glands. Recent evidence reveals that the sweat glands of the
skin, named apocrine sweat glands after this mode of secretion, actually undergo
merocrine secretion.
➢ Holocrine glands (HOˉ -loˉ-krin; holo- entire) The cells accumulate a secretory
product in their cytosol. As the secretory cell matures, it ruptures and becomes the
secretory product (Figure 4.7c). Because the cell ruptures in this mode of secretion, the
secretion contains large amounts of lipids from the plasma membrane and intracellular
membranes. The sloughed off cell is replaced by a new cell. One example of a
holocrine gland is a sebaceous gland of the skin.
Figure 4.7 Functional classification of multicellular exocrine glands.
The functional classification of exocrine glands is based on whether a secretion is a product of a
cell or consists of an entire or a partial glandular cell.