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Lecture 1 Tissues

Human Biology Ii: Being Human (University of Western Australia)

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Tissues (Week 1)

Organisation of Human Body

Atom  Molecule  Macromolecule  Organelle  Cell  Tissue  Organ  Organ

System  Organism

Four Primary Tissue Types

 Nerve – communication and control
 Muscle – movement and generation of heat
 Epithelium – covering and lining body surfaces
 Connective Tissue – support and protection

Tissue characteristics
 Groups of cells
 Similar in structure
 Common function

Muscle
 Excitable
  Contractile
 Movement (body, organs, stability)
 Heat generation

Physical characteristics of the 3 muscle types differ according to:

 Presence or absence of striations
– Striations = regular arrangement of myofibrils - actin and myosin filaments
 Cell shape (cylindrical, branching, fusiform)
 Cell length (long vs short)
 Number of nuclei in a cell (one vs several)
 Position of nuclei (peripheral vs central)
 Intercalated discs (present vs absent)

Skeletal
 Elongated and tubular appearance
 Striated
 Multiple peripheral nuclei
Cardiac
 Striated

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 Presence of intercalated discs

 One of two central nuclei
 Branched shape
Smooth
 Unstriated
 Spindle shape, fusiform
 Single central nucleus

Epithelium (Epithelia)
 Sheets of closely adhering cells (lots of
cells, little extracellular matrix)
 May be single or multilayered
 Polarity (apical, basal, lateral)
 Apical surface usually exposed to the
environment or a lumen
 Basal surface - basement membrane
(basal lamina)
 Avascular: does not have own blood
supply
 Regenerative: rapid turnover e.g. Paper cut
 Covers the body surface (epidermis), lines body cavities, forms external and internal
linings of many organs and constitutes most gland tissue

 Creates a selective barrier between external environment and underlying tissue.

 Specialised for absorptive, secretory, protective, or sensory activities.

Epithelia are named according to 2 criteria:

1. Number of layers (simple, stratified)
2. Shape of cells (always top layer – squamous, cuboidal, columnar)

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Simple epithelia: consist of a single layer cell layer.

Typically found where absorption, secretion, filtration occur
Stratified epithelia: composed of 2 or more cell layers.
Common in high abrasion areas where protection is important, e.g. Skin surface, lining of
mouth

Simple Squamous
 Single layer of flattened cells with disc shaped central nuclei and sparse cytoplasm
 Allows passage of materials by diffusion and filtration in sites where protection is
not important e.g. Air sacs of lungs, blood vessels
 Flattened and scalelike

Simple Cuboidal
 Spherical nuclei stain darkly, causing cell layer to look like a string of beads
 Box like, equal height and width
 Allows secretion and absorption e.g. Smallest ducts of glands and many kidney
tubules

Simple Columnar
 Closely
packed cells,
aligned like soldiers in a row
 Tall and column shaped

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 Lines digestive tract from stomach through the rectum

 Associated with absorption and secretion

Stratified Squamous
 Thick membrane composed of several cell layers
 Surface cells are squamous
 Basal cells are cuboidal or columnar, and metabolically active
 Protective role in body
 Surface cells constantly rubbed away and replaced by division of its basal cells
 Outer layer (epidermis) is Keratinized (surface cells contain Keratin, a tough
protective protein)
 Other stratified squamous epithelia are non Keratinized
 Keratinized: cells on top layer dead
 Non Keratinized: cells on top layer living
* Know you are dealing with living cells because of nucleus

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Pseudostratified Columnar
 All its cells rest on basement membrane, but only tallest reach the free surface
 Not all cells reach up due to high turnover
 Regeneration happening quite frequently
 Look for disorganised array of nuclei

Transitional
 Part of urinary system
 Forms lining of hollow urinary organs, which stretch as they fill with urine
 Appearance changes
 When bladder is full, TE thins from approx. six cell layers to three, domelike apical
cells flatten and become squamous like

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Epithilial Apical Specialisations

 Cilia: (tiny hairlike projections) that propel substances along their free surface
 Microvilli: finger like extensions of plasma membrane, increased surface area =
increased capacity to move substances across cell membrane
 Cilia much taller and wider than Microvilli, and have a more complicated internal
structure

 Gland: cell or organ that secretes substances for use elsewhere in the body
 Gland itself may produce a product (secretion) OR product may be something
removed from tissues and modified by the gland (excretion)
2 Types of Gland
 Exocrine: usually maintains contact with surface by way of duct (a tube of
epithelium that conveys secretion to surface) e.g. salivary glands, sweat glands
 Endocrine: no contact with surface (lost during development) product secreted
directly into blood, no ducts
 Some organs have both type functions e.g. Pancreas

Connective Tissue
 Most widely variable of all tissue types
 Varied functions
 Extracellular matrix separates cells
 May or may not be vascularised (blood
vessels)

Functions
 Binding
 Support
 Protection
 Insulation
 Transport
Contains
 Cells (widely separated)
 Fibres (proteins)

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 Ground substance (clear, amporhous, viscous)

Types of Connective Tissue

1. General (fibrous) CT
 Loose CT (Areolar, Reticular*)
 Dense CT (Dense Regular, Dense Irregular)
2. Specialised CT
 Adipose Tissue
 Lymphoid Tissue*
 Blood
 Cartilage
 Bone*

Loose (areolar) Connective Tissue

Collagen Fibres
 Very strong
 High tensile strength
 Slightly wavy appearance when not under tension but not elastic.
Elastic Fibres
 Capacity to stretch and recoil
Reticular fibres
 Very fine / not visible in most photomicrographs used in HB2

Dense Regular Connective Tissue

 Located: tendons, ligaments
 Binds organs together
 Not to be confused with smooth muscles.
Look for waviness (collagen) and arrangement of cell nuclei

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Dense Irregular Connective Tissue

 Fibres are more scattered

Adipose
 Liquid droplet
 If you empty fat droplet, cells look like a fibrocyte, loose areolar CT
 Fat essentially loose areolar CT that’s been modified to store nutrients

Blood
 Highly cellular
 Gaps in between cells due to plasma

Cartilage
 Hyaline Cartilage
 Elastic Cartilage
 Fibrocartilage

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