HISTOLOGY OF THE EXOCRINE PANCREAS

The morphology of the exocrine secretory unit of the pancreas, i.e. th e pancreatic acinus, is reviewed. The histological features of the aci ni and their relation with the duct system are described. The acinar t hree-dimensional architecture was studied by means of different ultras tructural techniques, some of which are complementary. The fine struct ure and morphodynamics of the acinar cells are also described. In addi tion, the location of the organelles in specific cytoplasmic domains a nd their close morphofunctional relationship with the sequential stage s of secretion of the digestive enzymes are specially emphasized. Fina lly, morphological approaches are suggested to achieve a better compre hension of the physiological and pathological pancreatic activities wh ose morphodynamics need to be further elucidated or are almost totally unknown. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.