Wenmarie D.

Co
BSMT 3A , Histology

Connective tissue
-characterized by an abundance of extracellular material and a relatively
paucity of cells.
-derived from mesoderm (except for some in the head that are derived from
ectoderm)

2 major types

Connective tissue proper

Special types of connective tissue- cartilage, bone, and hemapoietic
tissue (myeloid & lymphoid tissue).

Connective tissue proper

-is found all over the body. It envelopes muscles, binds body parts
together while allowing for some degree of movement of these parts in
relation to their immediate anatomical neighbors;
-forms the stroma or supporting framework of various organs
-serve as a venue for the exchange of gases and substances between
the other basic tissues and blood
Serve as arena & provides the cells that are needed to defend the body
against invading organisms and other harmful substances.

Composition of Connective Tissue

-connective tissue is composed of cells and extracellular substance or
matrix.
-the cells of connective tissues are not bound to each other, as in case of
epithelial cells, but scattered individually in the extracellular substance.
-extracellular substance of connective tissue, blood vessels, & nerve fibers
bound.

Extracellular substance of connective tissue( CT Matrix)

-connective tissue matrix consists of ground substance and a variety of
fibers that are embedded therein.
Ground Substance
-the ground substance of connective tissue is an amorphous, homogenous,
transparent, & hydrated gel.
-consist mainly of H2O that is stabilized by proteoglycans, mineral salts, &
glycoproteins.

Proteoglycans
-are main structural constituents and are responsible for gelatinous character
of ground substance.
-consists of core proteins to which disaccharides, in form of
glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), are attached covalently in a radiating
pattern.

5 types of GAGs exist in ground substance connective tissue

Hyaluronic acid (most abundant)

Keratin sulfate
Chondroitin sulfate
Dermatan sulfate
Heparin sulfate

Extracellular fibers
-the fibers in the extracellular substance are primarily responsible for the
supportive function of connective tissue.

3 types of fibers
- collagen, elastic, & reticular
Collagen
-present in all connective tissue, although in varying amounts.
-they are the main extracellular fibers.
-they usually collect into bundles that appear pink H & E preparation
because they are acidophilic.
-colorless but when present in abundant amounts, as in tendons, they
are impart a white color to fresh tissues.
-have tensile strength that is greater than steel. Slightly flexible but
inelastic.
-most abundant protein in the body.
Formation of collagen fibers
Procolagen- is the molecular precursor of a collagen fiber.
in the extracellular matrix, the procollagen molecules are right sized by
enzymatic removal of the extra peptides. Thereafter,(3) right sized
procollagen molecules assemble spontaneously to form
tropocollagen molecules by twisting around each other,much the
fibers of a rope, and getting bound together by hydrogen bonds. Once
formed, tropocollsgen molecules aggregate to form microfibrils.
Microfibrils group together to form bigger fibrillar structures called
fibris (macrofibrils).

 Elastic fibers
-fine fibers that average 1um in diameter.
-unlike collagen fibers, which usually do not ramify, elastic fibers
branch and their branches anastomose.
-they are not as numerous as collagen fibers, but they are particularly
abundant in structures that are subjected to frequent stretching such
as linament flava between vertebrae.
-they are also plentiful in the extracellular spaces of the elastic
cartilages that form the framework of the auricle and external acoustic
meatus of the ear, external nose, auditory tube, epiglottis and some
parts of the larynx.
Formation of Elastic fibers
Fibroblast, smooth muscle cells, and mesenchymal cells- have
the capacity to secrete the substances that are needed to form elastic
fibers.
These cells, at the start elastogenesis (elastic fiber formation)
secrete into the extracellular space microfibrils which shortly thereafter
aggregate to form bundles.
Tropoelastinthe precursor protein of elastinis likewise secreted by
the same cells into the extracellular space where it polymerizes to
elastin and then incorporated into the outer aspect of the microfibril
bundles.

Reticular fibers
-are also made up of collagen, but collagen content is type 3 while
ordinary collagen fibers contain collagen type 1.
-they stain black when impregnated with silver salts; because of this,
they are referred to as argyrophilic fibers.
-relatively sparse in most connective tissues, but they are the main
extracellular fibers in the stroma of the bone marrow, some visceral
organs such as the liver, and lymphoid organs such as lymph nodes
and spleen.

Resident cells- cells present in connective tissue; cells that permanently

stay in CT.
Ex: fibroblast & fibrocytes, reticular cells, adipose cells, mast cells, and
resident macropahages.

Visiting cells-cells that are transient in CT.

Ex. Inflammatory macrophages, plasma cells, and leukocytes.

Pluripotential stem cells- capable of differentiating, not only into

mesenchymal cells but also hemopoietic stem cells that give rise to the
formed elements of blood, neuronal stem cells that differentiate into neurons
and neuroglial cells, and other multipotential stem cells.

Fibroblast
- are the most abundant cells innthe most connective tissues.
-they synthesize the proteins, glycoproteins, and glycosaminoglycans that
are present in the ground substance of connective tissue.
-they also produce the precursors of collagen, elastic, and reticular fibers.

Fibrocytes
-fibroblast that are idle or resting
-often seen lying close to collagen fibers.
-they originate from mesenchymal cells; capable of mitosis.
-however, being sturdy and long lived, they divide infrequently.

Adipose cell -cell that is specialized to store lipids, mainly triglycerides, in

its cytoplasm.
Adipose tissue- it is predominant cellular element.
Lipoblast (young adipose cell)- contains only a few amall fat droplets in
its cytoplasm, but as the cell mature, it accumulates more lipids and the fat
droplets increase in size & number.
Pre- fat cells- are in an intermediate step between stem cells and fat cells.
Reticular cells-are specialized fibroblast that synthesize the precursors of
type 3 collagen that make up reticular fibers.
Macrophages- are phagocytes that differentiate from monocytes. They are
the effector cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS), a family of
cells in the bone marrow, monocytes and macrophages.

Resident macrophages- are those that inhabit a given site.

Inflammatory macrophages-those which, after differentiating from
monocytes migrates to a site in response to a stimulus.

Mast cells-are sparse in most connective tissue , but they are abundant in
the lamina propria of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, underneath
the skin and along the course of small blood cells.

Heparin-anticoagulant
Histamine-dilates and makes blood capillaries more permeable and
which stimulates the smooth muscle cells especially of the bronchioles
in respiratory tract and some proteases.

Plasma cells (plasmocytes)- present in limited #s in all CT, but they are
numerous in the CT that are readily accessible to foreign proteins and
bacteria, such as lamina propria of the digestive tract.
Leukocytes- present in variable #s on practically all connective tissues.

Classification of connective tissue proper

Loose connective tissue-is characterized by high vascularity and an
abundance of extracellular substance where the fibers are arranged
haphazardly.

Ordinary loose connective tissue-where predominant extracellular

fiber is collagen and predominant resident cell in fibroblast.
Modified loose connective tissue- different in cellular or fibrillar
composition from ordinary connective tissue.

Types of modified loose connective tissue

Adipose tissue-loose connective tissue in which predominant cellular
element is the fat or adipose cell. It also represents the largest energy
storage site of the body.
Brown adipose tissue-richly supplied w/ mitochondria, which
are partly responsible for the brown color of the tissue. Store lipid
in form of numerous droplets.
Yellow adipose tissue- store lipid in the form of a single fat
vacuole.

Reticular tissue- loose connective tissue which predominant

extracellular fibrillar element is the reticular fiber.
Elastic tissue- loose connective tissue which predominant fibrillar
component is the elastic fiber.
Mucous tissue- characterized by the abundance of amorphous and
jellylike ground substance in which are embedded a scarce number of
collagen, and elastic and reticular fibers.
Dense connective tissue- contains an abundance of closely packed
collagen fiber in its extracellular matrix.

Dense irregular-when collagen fibers run in various directions.

Ex. Dermis of the skin, capsule of some organs like lymph nodes, liver,
spleen, and testis.

Dense regular-when fibers are arranged in a definite pattern.

Ex. Tendons, ligaments, & fibrous membranes.