The Pacemaker of Gastrointestinal Tract Mobility and Interstitial Cells of Cajal

Gastrointestinal tract mobility is spontaneously and rhythmically active of smooth muscles. More and more evidences indicated that the rhythmic activities might originate in the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC,so-called pacemaker) distributed in the myenteric region of gastrointestinal tract. Morphological features of these cells distributed in different areas of gastrointestinal tract are variety, however, all of them are rich in mitochondria, surrounding ICC express c-Kit immunoreactivity, and form gap junctional connections with each other and nearby smooth muscle cells.