Pheochromocytes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Specialized cells of the adrenal medulla that produce and release hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline into the bloodstream
2. Hormone-secreting cells found in the adrenal glands that manufacture catecholamines in response to stress signals from the nervous system
3. Cells of the adrenal medulla, often forming tumours when abnormal, that store and release catecholamine hormones like adrenaline

Etymology: "Pheochromocytes" is the plural of "pheochromocyte," a cell type named for its staining behaviour. The word is built from "pheochrome," a term for the dark brown colour these cells take up when treated with chromium salts, with the linking vowel "-o-" and the suffix "-cyte," meaning cell, borrowed from Greek "kytos," a hollow vessel. Read literally, the name means something like "dusky-colour cell" in a fully transparent way. The coinage points to the cells' known chemistry. Chromium salts oxidise the catecholamines stored inside these cells, producing a brown precipitate that makes them stand out under the microscope, and the name records that visual result rather than the cells' function. Cells of this kind are found in the adrenal medulla and the wider sympathetic nervous system, where they release hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline.