Thyrotropes (also called thyrotrophs) are
endocrine cells in the
anterior pituitary which produce
thyroid stimulating hormone
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (also known as thyrotropin, thyrotropic hormone, or abbreviated TSH) is a pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroxine (T4), and then triiodothyronine (T3) which stimulates the metabolism of ...
(TSH) in response to
thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH).
[Guyton, A.C. & Hall, J.E. (2006) ''Textbook of Medical Physiology'' (11th ed.) Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunder ] Thyrotropes consist around 5% of the
anterior pituitary lobe cells.
["Costanzo, Linda S. (2014). "Physiology" (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier. ISBN 978-1-4557-0847-5]
Thyrotropes appear
basophilic
Basophilic is a technical term used by pathologists. It describes the appearance of cells, tissues and cellular structures as seen through the microscope after a histological section has been stained with a basic dye. The most common such dye i ...
in
histological
Histology,
also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...
preparations.
See also
*
Anterior pituitary
*
Hormone
A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are require ...
*
List of human cell types derived from the germ layers
References
External links
Peptide hormone secreting cells
Human cells
Thyroid homeostasis
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