Herring bodies

Herring bodies or neurosecretory bodies are structures found in the posterior pituitary. They represent the terminal end of the axons from the hypothalamus, and hormones are temporarily stored in these locations. They are neurosecretory terminals.^[1]

Neurosecretory body
Details
Location	Posterior pituitary
Identifiers
Latin	corpusculum neurosecretorium
TH	H3.08.02.2.00039
Anatomical terms of microanatomy [edit on Wikidata]

Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and oxytocin are both stored in Herring bodies, but are not stored simultaneously in the same Herring body.^[2]

In addition, each Herring body also contains ATP and a type of neurophysin. Neurophysins are binding proteins, of which there are two types: neurophysin I and neurophysin II, 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.^[3]

This anatomical structure was first described by Percy Theodore Herring in 1908.