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Endocrine System - Unit 15A

Terms

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Epinephrine
a hormone that is a member of a class of compounds, the catecholamines that are synthesized from the amino acid tyrosine.
Islets of Langerhans
clusters of endocrine cells that secrete two hormones directly into the circulatory system. Each islet has a population of alpha cells, which secrete the peptide hormone glucagons, and a population of beta cells, which secrete the hormone insulin.
Pituitary gland
a small organ with multiple endocrine functions.
Norepinephrine
a hormones that is a member of a class of compounds, the catecholamines that are synthesized from the amino acid tyrosine.
Inhibiting hormone
from the hypothalamus make the anterior pituitary stop secreting hormone.
Endocrine glands
hormone-secreting organs.
Adrenal glands
are adjacent to the kidneys. Each adrenal gland is actually made up of two glands with different cell types, functions, and embryonic origins: the adrenal cortex, or outer portion, and the adrenal medulla, or central part.
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
stimulates the production and secretion of steroid hormones by the adrenal cortex.
Prolactin (PRL)
a protein so similar to GH that it is believed they are encoded in genes that evolved from the same ancestral gene. Prolactin's most remarkable characteristic is the great diversity of effects it produces in different vertebrate species.
Pineal gland
small mass of tissue near the center of the brain. It secretes the hormone melatonin, a modified amino acid.
Corticosteroids
ACTH stimulates cells of the adrenal cortex to synthesize and secrete a family of steroids called this.
Growth hormone (GH)
a protein consisting of almost 200 amino acids, affects a wide variety of target tissues and has both direct effect and tropic effects. GH promotes growth directly and stimulates the production of growth factors.
Estrogens
have a parallel role in the maintenance of the female reproductive system and the development of female secondary sex characteristics.
Insulinlike growth factors (IGFs)
circulates in blood plasma and directly stimulates bone and cartilage growth.
Brain hormone (BH)
promotes development by stimulating the prothoracic glands to secrete ecdysone.
Hypothalamus
plays an important role in integrating the vertebrate endocrine and nervous systems. This region of the lower brain receives information from nerves throughout the body and from other parts of the brain, and then initiates endocrine signals appropriate to environmental conditions.
Calcitonin
a hormone that lowers calcium levels in the blood as part of calcium homeostasis.
Tropic hormones
hormones that have other endocrine glands as their targets and that are particularly important to our understanding of chemical coordination.
Anterior pituitary / Adenohypophysis
develops from a fold of the roof of the mouth that grows upward toward the brain and eventually loses its connection to the digestive tract.
Juvenile hormone (JH)
promotes the retention of larval characteristics; secreted by a pair of small glands just behind the brain, the corpora allata.
Posterior pituitary / Neurophypophysis
is an extension of the brain. It develops from a small bulge of the hypothalamus that grows downward toward the mouth fold that forms the anterior pituitary.
Releasing hormones
make the anterior pituitary secrete its hormones.
Endocrine system
what all of an animal's hormone-secreting cells constitute.
Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH)
regulates the activity of pigment-containing cells in the skin of some vertebrates.
Endorphins
release when stress and pain in the body reach critical levels.
Ecdysone
a hormone that triggers molting.
The thyroid gland produces two very similar hormones derived from the amino acid tyrosine
Triiodothyronine (T3), which contains three iodine atoms, and tetraiodothyronine, or Thyroxine (T4), which contains four iodine atoms.
Parathyroid glands
there are four and they are embedded in the surface of the thyroid, function in the homeostasis of calcium ions. They secrete Parathyroid hormone (PTH), which raises blood levels of calcium and thus has an effect opposite to that of the thyroid hormone calcitonin.
Progestins
which include progesterone, are primarily involved in preparing and maintaining the uterus, which supports the growth and development of an embryo.
Neurosecretory cells
specialized nerve cells that endocrine organs and tissues contain.

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