Gastric chief cell

A gastric chief cell or peptic cell, or gastric zymogenic cell is the type of gastric gland cell that releases pepsinogen and gastric lipase and is the cell responsible for secretion of chymosin in ruminants. The cell stains basophilic upon H&E staining due to the large proportion of rough endoplasmic reticulum in its cytoplasm. Gastric chief cells are loosely located deep in the mucosal layer of the stomach lining, in the fundus and body of the stomach.

Chief cells release the zymogen enzyme precursor pepsinogen when stimulated by a set of factors including cholinergic activity from the vagus nerve and acidic condition in the stomach. Gastrin and secretin may also act as secretagogues.

It works in conjunction with the parietal cell, which releases gastric acid, converting the pepsinogen into pepsin.

Nomenclature

The terms chief cell and zymogenic cell are often used without the word "gastric" to realize this type of cell. However those terms can also be used to describe other cell mark for example, parathyroid chief cells. Chief cells are also so-called as peptic cells.