IN SEARCH OF A SECRETORY CYCLE

摘要

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the mechanisms underlying hormonal biosynthesis and release may not be tightly coupled within individual endocrine cells. Instead, a given cell may undergo alternating periods of gene expression/hormone biosynthesis followed by release per se. The purpose of this chapter is to summarize evidence favouring the existence oi such a secretory cycle within single, living, pituitary cells.