neurosecretion

Neurosecretion is the release of extracellular vesicles and particles from neurons, astrocytes, microglial and other cells of the central nervous system. These neurohormones, produced by neurosecretory cells, are normally secreted from nerve cells in the brain that then circulate into the blood. These neurohormones are similar to nonneural endocrine cells and glands in that they also regulate both endocrine and nonendocrine cells. Neurosecretion cells synthesize and package their product in vesicles and exocytose them at axon endings just as normal neurons do, but release their product farther from their target than normal neurons (which release their neurotransmitters short distances at synapses), typically releasing their neurohormones into the circulatory system to reach their distant targets.

==Discovery== In 1928, Ernst Scharrer hypothesized that neurosecretory neurons in the hypothalamus of teleost fish, Phoxinus laevis, had secretory activity similar to that of endocrine gland cells. As more became known about neurosecretory cells, the difference between the actions of nerve communication and endocrine hormone release become less clear. Like the average neuron, these cells conduct electrical impulses along the axon but unlike these neurons, neurosecretion produces neurohormones that are released into the body’s circulation. Combining the properties of the nervous and endocrine, these cells have the capacity to affect nerves through chemical messengers. Neurosecretion is a broad area of study and must be further observed to be better understood.