Goblet cells secrete by which mechanism?

Goblet cells secrete by which mechanism?

• A. Holocrine
• B. Apocrine
• C. Merocrine
• D. Cytocrine

Answer: (B)

Goblet cells release mucus through merocrine secretion. In this process, the mucin-containing secretory granules are packaged and then exocytosed through the cell membrane into the lumen, leaving the cell intact and able to continue producing more mucus. This fits goblet cells’ role as unicellular mucous-secreting units in respiratory and intestinal epithelia, where mucins are synthesized in the Golgi, stored in granules, and released on demand. Apocrine secretion would involve shedding a portion of the cell’s apical cytoplasm with the secretory product, holocrine would destroy the whole cell to release contents, and cytocrine would transfer secretions to another cell—none of which describe goblet cell mucus release.

Goblet cells release mucus through merocrine secretion. In this process, the mucin-containing secretory granules are packaged and then exocytosed through the cell membrane into the lumen, leaving the cell intact and able to continue producing more mucus. This fits goblet cells’ role as unicellular mucous-secreting units in respiratory and intestinal epithelia, where mucins are synthesized in the Golgi, stored in granules, and released on demand.

Apocrine secretion would involve shedding a portion of the cell’s apical cytoplasm with the secretory product, holocrine would destroy the whole cell to release contents, and cytocrine would transfer secretions to another cell—none of which describe goblet cell mucus release.