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Intestinal crypt, with Paneth cells

Paneth cellsmuscularis mucosaesubmucosalamina propriacrypt epitheliumcrypt lumencryptNotes

Click on the image to identify the tissues.  (Depending on your browser, simply "hovering" over an area may produce a label.)

Crypts are a prominent feature of the intestinal mucosa.

The simple columnar epithelium which lines the crypt consists of stem cells and newly-formed absorptive and goblet cells.

At the bottom of the crypt are Paneth cells.  Each paneth cell has a typical serous cell appearance, with secretory vesicles (bright red in this micrograph) containing lysosomal enzymes packed into apical cytoplasm.   (These granules are not conspicuous in most H&E specimens.)

The many small nuclei in lamina propria are mostly lymphocytes.  (Identifying individual cells in lamina propria is not practical in most routine specimens.)

 

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Comments and questions: dgking@siu.edu

SIUC / School of Medicine / Anatomy / David King

https://histology.siu.edu/erg/GI112b.htm
Last updated:  17 May 2022 / dgk