Ionocyte

An ionocyte (formerly called a chloride cell) is a

Marine teleost fishes consume large quantities of seawater to reduce osmotic dehydration.^[9] The excess of ions absorbed from seawater is pumped out of the teleost fishes via the ionocytes.^[9] These cells use active transport on the basolateral (internal) surface to accumulate chloride, which then diffuses out of the apical (external) surface and into the surrounding environment.^[10] Such mitochondrion-rich cells are found in both the gill lamellae and filaments of teleost fish. Using a similar mechanism, freshwater teleost fish use these cells to take in salt from their dilute environment to prevent hyponatremia from water diffusing into the fish.^[10] In the context of freshwater fish, ionocytes are often referred to as "mitochondria-rich cells", to emphasis their high density of mitochondria.^[11]

See also

• Pulmonary ionocyte
  - a rare type of specialised cell that may regulate mucus viscosity in humans

References

Further reading

• Zadunaisky JA (June 1996). "Chloride cells and osmoregulation". Kidney International. 49 (6): 1563–7.
  PMID 8743455
  .

This vertebrate anatomy–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e