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Spontaneous repetitive hyperpolarisations from cells in the rat adenohypophysis

Abstract

SPONTANEOUS, repetitive potential changes in the form of action potentials have been observed in only a few types of highly specialised cells such as cardiac pacemaker cells, various smooth muscle cells and certain nerve cells. Some endocrine cells, however, can exhibit repetitive depolarisations with similarities to action potentials; for example, the beta cells of the pancreas1, cells in the adrenal cortex2 and cells of a clonal line of an anterior pituitary tumour3. We report here that some cells in the adenohypophysis of ovariectomised rats are electrically excitable as well as exhibiting spontaneous, repetitive hyperpolarisations.

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HEDEMARK POULSEN, J., WILLIAMS, J. Spontaneous repetitive hyperpolarisations from cells in the rat adenohypophysis. Nature 263, 156–158 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/263156a0

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