INTRODUCTION TO HISTOLOGY

(with Review of Cell Biology)

Learning Outcomes
• To be able to discuss the basics and the history of histology
• To be able to define some basic concepts in histology
• To be able to remember helpful concepts of cell biology pertinent to
the study of histology
Outline
• Definition of Histology
• History of histology and related concepts
• Overview of 4 Tissue types
• Review of cell biology concepts needed in Histology
Histology (microscopic
anatomy)

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 Histology
It is the study of the tissues of the body and
how these tissues are arranged to
constitute organs also called Microscopic
anatomy Or Microanatomy.
SO WHAT IS THE SCIENCE OF

HISTOLOGY?

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•Tissue is derived from the French word, tissu which means "weave or texture".

•Prior to the late 1700s, “tissue” did not refer to organic, cellular layers, but rather to
anything woven or textured.

•So, for example, a fine,

lightweight fabric was called a
tissue, or a group of connected
falsehoods is referred to as a
"tissue of lies".

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The term “tissue” as it is used in Histology

Came into usage in the English language

in the late 1700s

Coined by the French scientist Bichat

Marie Francois Xavier Bichat (1771-

1802) 8
It's important to realize that all Bichat’s work was
done without a microscope

Bichat based his descriptions of tissues on the

results of gross dissection (what he saw with his
“naked” eyes). Based on such observations, he
described 21 “weaves” or “textures” that he called
tissues - Bichat’s 21 textures.

Other scientists of that period made use of the

microscope that had been much improved by the
efforts of the Dutch scientist Leeuwenhoek, to
delve more deeply into the nature of the weaves
or tissues that Bichat had described.

Antony van Leeuwenhoek

(1632-1723)

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http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1092738817041241628bWnrML
A Brief History of the Microscope:

First microscopes were constructed in the Netherlands during the late 1500s.
Actual inventor uncertain, but credit is often given to Zacharias Janssen; however, other
possible inventors are Hans Lippershey (inventor of the first real telescope) and Zacharias’
father, Hans Janssen

http://www.southwestschools.org/jsfaculty/Microscopes/history.html

Magnification 3 - 9X, images poor

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History of the microscope:

1. First microscope with “high” magnification and good image quality was developed
by Anthony van Leeuwenhoek (1633 - 1723) about 1670.
2. Leeuwenhoek used beads formed from drops of molten glass as his lenses.
3. These were mounted in a metal plate that had an adjustable stage on which the
specimen to be examined was mounted.
4. Natural light or light from a candle flame was used to illuminate the specimen.

http://www.college-optometrists.org/index.aspx/pcms/site.college.What_We_Do.museyeum.online_exhibitions.microscopy.early/

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History of the microscope:

Microscope design quickly evolved from better simple microscopes (one lens) to
more sophisticated compound (more than one lens in series) models with greatly
improved image quality and magnification.

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http://www.college-optometrists.org/index.aspx/pcms/site.college.What_We_Do.museyeum.online_exhibitions.microscopy.early/
How a compound microscope works:
1. The specimen is placed on the staged
2. Light is reflected or projected through or onto the specimen.
3. Reflected or projected light from the specimen passes through the objective lenses
which magnify the resultant image (e.g. 10 X).
4. The light forming the image from the objective then passes through the eyepiece
lenses which again magnify the image (e.g. 10X).
5. The spacing of the of the lenses relative to each other and to the specimen and the
position of ones eyes acts to focus the image on the retina.
6. In the example above, the magification of the image would be, …… 10 x
10 = 100X

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http://www.yesmag.bc.ca/how_work/microscope.html
Tissues and Cells
17th century
1670 - Robert Hooke examined cork with a
microscope and found it was composed of tiny
“chambers”.
Hook called these chambers cells because they
reminded him of the small rooms or chambers
found in monasteries that, at that time, were
described by the the latin word “cella”.

Hooke published this information, as well as the

results of other microscopic research he had
performed in his Micrographia.

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http://www.realcork.org/html/prod_cork_properties.php
Similar compartments were found to be present in animal tissue.

Additional study revealed that, in living tissues, these compartments were filled with a fluid
substance which is, of course, the cell cytoplasm.

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The Cell Theory
1832 - Schleiden and Schwann independently hypothesized
that all plant and animal tissues are composed of cells.
They believed that cells were the “ultimate” units of living
organisms. MATTHIAS JAKOB SCHLEIDEN
1804 - 1881
This is in part correct since cells are the smallest, potentially
independent unit of a living organism.
However, further study revealed that these small cells
contained even smaller structures in their cytoplasm.

THEODOR16SCHWANN
1810 - 1882
Stains were not used to examine cells in these early studies. Scientists using the microscope relied
entirely on differences in refractive index to make structures in tissues visible.

This didn’t work very well - not enough contrast

Initially only the nucleus (nut) of the cell was noted,

but it soon became obvious that there was an even
smaller structure within the nucleus that was given
the name “nucleolus” which means “small nut”.

http://faraday.physics.uiowa.edu/movies/MPEG/6a40.30.mpg

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Various stains were introduced to increase contrast.

Basophil - granules contain heparin and

histamine.

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Definitions
•tissues - interwoven masses of cells and extra cellular material
•cells - living, more or less self-sufficient entities that form tissues. Surrounded by a
membrane.
•organelles - membrane bound structures within cells (e.g. mitochondria, golgi bodies,
lysosomes)

•inclusions - various non-membrane bound structures within cells (e.g. glycogen

granules)
•molecules and atoms - well, hopefully you know what these are

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 As we have already stated, histology is the study of the
structure of tissues.

What is meant by structure?

• Tissue structure - how cells combine together with extracellular
material and each other to form a tissue

• Cellular structure - how a cell is shaped, and how the components

inside cells are organized to support that cells specific function

• Sub-cellular structure - detailed analysis of organelles and inclusions

and finally,
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• Histochemical structure - molecular analysis of cellular
structure

1. Energy storage molecules - lipid, protein, carbohydrate - energy for

cell metabolism.

2. Structural molecules - such as phospholipids and cholesterol,

proteins such as tubulin, actin, myosin, etc. Raw materials for
synthesis and construction of enzymes, membranes,
microtubules, micro-filaments, organelles, cells, etc.

3. Information molecules - DNA, RNA

4. Catalysts, reaction initiators - special proteins called enzymes.

5. Antigenicity - interaction of cell molecular structure with proteins

called immunoglobulins (antibodies - the immune system)

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 Tissues, Cells, Cell Theory, Stains, Structure:

Put it all together - you get Histology, a science:

Friedrich Gustav Jacob Henle (1801-

1885) - credited with creating the first
“histology” that was based on a
detailed examination of tissues with
the microscope,

1838 - presented report on epithelia in

the human body. Demonstrated that all
internal and external surfaces of the
body were covered by epithelia.

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Henle developed a classification for epithelia:
pavement - squamous
cylindrical - cuboidal or columnar
ciliated - having cilia

Also recognized that the epithelium lining the bladder changed

shape as the bladder filled - what we call a transitional
epithelium today.
Was also an anatomist and cytologist - many anatomical,
tissue and cellular structures are named after him.

e.g. loop of Henle

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We now know that all the tissues of the body are formed from 4
basic types of tissue.

• Epithelial tissue

• Connective tissue

• Muscle tissue

• Nervous tissue

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Differences among 4 Tissue Classes
1. Types and functions of cells--
• For example: Epithelial, CT, Nervous,
Muscular
2. Characteristics of the matrix (extracellular
material)
• Rubbery, stony, or gelatinous
3. Relative amount of space occupied by cells
versus matrix
• CT vs. muscle and epithelium

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Embryonic Tissues
1. Embryo begins as a single cell
• divides into many cells that form layers (strata)
2. Three primary germ layers
A.ectoderm (outer) gives rise to: epidermis + nervous system
B.endoderm (inner): mucous membranes: GI tract and
respiratory linings; digestive glands.

C.mesoderm (middle) forms mesenchyme (gelatinuous tissue)

and then give rise to muscle, bone, and blood

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Tissue Sectioning
1. Preparation of histological specimens
• fixation
• sections
• mounted on slides & stained

2. Sectioning (slicing) an organ or tissue reduces a 3-

dimensional structure to a 2-dimensional slice (see
the next 3 slides)

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 1 2 3 4 5
•Slices 1 & 5
Tissue Sectioning miss the yolk
/ cell nucleus
1 5
•Cell nucleus
is smaller in
2
3 sections 2 &
4
4

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A B • Image A is a cross
section of elbow
macaroni, resembling
a blood vessel, piece
of gut, or other
tubular organ.
• Image B is a
longitudinal section of
a sweat gland. Notice
what a single slice
could look like

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• Longitudinal section
• tissue cut along the
longest direction of an
organ
• Cross section
• tissue cut perpendicular to
the length of an organ
• Oblique section
• tissue cut at an angle
between a cross &
longitudinal section

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Types of Tissue Sections (2)
Practice at home.
• Would you classify the
egg sections as
longitudinal, cross, or
oblique sections?
• How would the egg
look if sectioned in the
other two planes?

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Epithelial Tissue Introduction

1. One or more layers of closely adhering cells

2. (Top) Forms a flat sheet with the upper (______) surface
exposed to the environment or an internal body cavity
3. (Bottom) Sits on basement membrane (basal surface of
cells); Fig. X
• anchors epithelium to underlying connective tissue
4. (Nourishment) No room for blood vessels; . . .

CT
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33
Connective Tissue (CT) Overview
• Most abundant and variable tissue type
• 3 structural elements –
• Consists mostly of (a) G________; (b) F_______
• (c) with widely spaced cells
• Functions of CT:
• Binding of organs --Ex. a tendon connects muscle to bone
• Support, protection, movement -- Ex. bones
• Storage – (energy, electrolytes) Ex. Fats/bones
• Transport -- Ex. Blood

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Collagen

Tendons
(collagen)
 Canaliculi ?

Fig. Compact bone 36

Fig. Blood smear 37
Muscular Tissue
-one of the four primary tissue types of the body (along with epithelial, nervous, and connective tissues),

- and the body contains ______ types of muscle tissue: s____ muscle, c______muscle, and sm____ muscle.

- All three muscle tissues have some properties in common; they all exhibit a quality called e_______ as
their plasma membranes can change their electrical states (from polarized to depolarized) and send an
electrical wave called an action potential along the entire length of the membrane.

- While the nervous system can influence the excitability of c______ and sm______muscle to some degree,
sk______muscle completely depends on signaling from the nervous system to work properly.

- On the other hand, both ____________muscle types can respond to other stimuli, such as hormones and
local stimuli.
Nervous Tissue
Nervous tissue is composed of two types of cells, 1)n______ and 2) g_____cells.

(1) are responsible for the computation and communication that the nervous
system provides. They are electrically active and release chemical signals to
communicate between each other and with target cells.

(2) are much smaller than neurons and play a supporting role for nervous tissue.
Glial cells maintain the extracellular environment around neurons, improve signal
conduction in neurons and protect them from pathogens.

- Ongoing research also suggests that glial cell number matches neuron number
and that they even can send signals themselves.
Review of Cell Biology
Knowledge of cell structure and organization helps with analyzing histological
sections under the microscope.

Staining patterns differ according to the histochemical properties which are brought
about by the molecular structures that mainly make up a tissue. Eg. staining
patterns of nuclei and ribosomes containing nucleic acids and proteins vs
cytoplasmic contents

pH of some organelles can also dictate staining process

Fibers and filaments are also important to histological examinations

The Nucleus
Summary of Cell Structures
The Cytoskeleton is an important structure of contractile cells and are also important in the maintenance of cell shape

Some are involved in the process of cell division.

Cytoskeleton (and their histological or immunochemical staining) play a special role in tissue identification and disease diagnosis.
Some Cell Pigments of Importance
Resources:

1. Mescher, A. Junqueira’s Basic Histology Text and Atlas 15th

edition. Mc Graw Hill. 2018

2. https://open.oregonstate.education/aandp/

3. Images and other texts are derived from open source

resources.