Herring bodies or neurosecretory bodies are structures found in the

posterior pituitary The posterior pituitary (or neurohypophysis) is the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland which is part of the endocrine system. The posterior pituitary is not glandular as is the anterior pituitary. Instead, it is largely a collection of axonal ...

. They represent the terminal end of the axons from the

hypothalamus The hypothalamus () is a part of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. The hypothalamu ...

, and hormones are temporarily stored in these locations. They are

neurosecretory Neurosecretion is the storage, synthesis and release of hormones from neurons. These neurohormones, produced by neurosecretory cells, are normally secreted from nerve cells in the brain that then circulate into the blood. These neurohormones are si ...

terminals. Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and oxytocin are both stored in Herring bodies, but are not stored simultaneously in the same Herring body. In addition, each Herring body also contains ATP and a type of

neurophysin Neurophysins are carrier proteins which transport the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin to the posterior pituitary from the paraventricular and supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus, respectively. Inside the neurosecretory granules, the analogous ...

. Neurophysins are binding proteins, of which there are two types:

neurophysin I Neurophysin I is a carrier protein with a size of 10 K Da and contains 90 to 97 amino acids. It is a cleavage product (formed by splitting of a compound molecule into a simpler one) of preprooxyphysin. It is a neurohypophysial hormone that is tra ...

and

neurophysin II Neurophysin II is a carrier protein with a size of 19,687.3 Da and is made up of a dimer of two virtually identical chains of amino acids. Neurophysin II is a cleavage product (formed by splitting of a compound molecule into a simpler one) of th ...

, which bind to oxytocin and ADH, respectively. Neurophysin and its hormone become a complex considered a single protein and stored in the neurohypophysis. Upon stimulation by the hypothalamus, secretory granules release stored hormones into the bloodstream. Fibers from supraoptic nuclei are concerned with ADH secretion; paraventricular nuclei with oxytocin. This anatomical structure was first described by

Percy Theodore Herring Percy Theodore Herring FRSE FRCPE LLD (3 November 1872 – 24 October 1967) was a physician and physiologist, notable for first describing Herring bodies in the posterior pituitary gland. Life He was born in Yorkshire, England, on 3 November ...

in 1908.

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* * {{Authority control Histology