HISTOLOGY OF

CONNECTIVE TISSUE

BY
DR. UCHENNA STEPHEN
AYOGU , MBBS, Msc.
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 LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. To understand the characteristics that define connective

tissue and the common features of connective tissue.
2. To understand the major functions of connective tissue.
3. To define the cell types that form connective tissue.
4. To define the cells types that, although they do not form
connective tissue, migrate into the connective tissue.
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES CONT,D
 To define the different types of connective tissue
including: mesenchyme, adipose tissue, loose connective
tissue, dense regular connective tissue and dense irregular
connective tissue, and to be able to recognize these in a
micrograph.
To understand the components of the extracellular matrix
in connective tissue, including the various fibres present
and the components of ground substance.
Clinical correlate of connective tissue disorders.
 CONNECTIVE TISSUE
Unlike the other major tissues
(e.g. epithelia) that are made
up mainly of cells, with
relatively little extracellular
space, connective tissue
consists of cells embedded in
large quantities of extracellular
matrix.
This extracellular matrix is
composed of protein fibres,
amorphous ground substance
and tissue fluid.

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FUNCTIONS OF CONNECTIVE TISSUE

1. Space filler and mechanical support.

2. Attachment and protection
3. Highway for nutrients
4. Main fat store and calcium store
5. Site of many immunological defence
reactions

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 CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Subdivided into three types:

1. Soft connective tissue: Tendons, ligaments,

mesentery, stroma of organs, dermis of
the skin, etc
2. Hard connective tissue: Bone and cartilage
3. Blood and lymph: many authors consider blood
and lymph as a specialized form of
connective tissue

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CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Consists of:

 Cells:

 Extracellular matrix:

 The type of connective tissue is determined by the types and

relative amounts of these two components.
 CELLS PRESENT IN CONNECTIVE
TISSUE
 Resident Cells of Immigrant cells
Connective Tissue:
of Connective
• Fibroblasts
Tissue:
• Adipose cells
 Lymphocytes
• Osteocytes: cells of bone  Leukocytes
• Chondrocytes: cells of  Mast cells
cartilage  Macrophages
 We will deal with osteocytes and
chondrocytes in future lectures

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 FIBROBLASTS
Fibroblasts: elongated
cells with tapered ends that
are widely distributed and
that produce and maintain
the extracellular matrix.
Tissue damage causes
fibroblasts to divide and
they are very important in
wound repair.
 Notice the prominent
rough endopasmic
reticulum (rER) and Golgi
apparatus (G) typical of a
protein secreting cell.

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 ACTIVE FIBROBLASTS

Note the enlarged

prominent nucleus.
These are plastic
sections: in the more
commonly seen paraffin
sections stained with
H&E it is very difficult
to differentiate between
the fibroblast cytoplasm
and the surrounding
collagen.
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 ADIPOSE CELLS
Adipose cells (fat cells):
In adults these cells have a single
giant fat droplet and with the
release of fatty acids into the
bloodstream provide energy for
other cells.
Adipocytes (another name for
adipose cell) are found scattered in
many connective tissues, but are
the predominant cell by far in
adipose tissue (fat).
This type of tissue is also
called‘white fat’ or unilocular fat.
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 ADIPOSE CELLS: BROWN FAT
Brown fat is a special type of fat
that in humans occurs mostly in
the fetus and neonate.
Cells in brown fat contain many
small fat droplets and very
numerous mitochondria.
When brown fat is oxidized, rather
than producing ATP, a large
amount of heat is generated which
helps keep the infant warm.
This is called ‘non-shivering
thermogenesis’.
Brown fat is also called multilocular
fat.

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ADIPOSE TISSUE
Adipose tissue is the largest store of energy in the
body.
It is in a continuous state of turnover and is sensitive
to both hormonal and nervous stimuli.
 Subcutaneous layers of adipose tissue help to shape
the body, while deposits in the form of pads act as
shock absorbers, e.g. soles of feet & palms.
 Elsewhere it fills up the spaces between tissues and
helps to keep some tissues in position.
In men of normal weight 15-20% of body weight is
made up of adipose tissue
 And in women 20-25% consists of adipose tissue.
 Cells Present in Connective Tissue
Cells you might see in Connective Tissue:
• During wound healing a type of cell with
properties intermediate between a fibroblast
• And a smooth muscle cell can be found
called a myofibroblast.
• Myofibroblasts cause wound contraction
by producing collagen fibres
• And tugging on them to draw together the
wound margins.
Cells Present in Connective Tissue Cont,d
Immigrant cells:
• Leukocytes (white blood cells):
• Lymphocytes, plasma cells, granulocytes and
macrophages are commonly found in loose
connective tissue.
• These migrate from the blood stream.
• The number of these cells increases
dramatically at sites of inflammation or
infection
 Immigrant cells Found In Connective
Tissue Cont,d

Mast cells:
 Probably originate from a type of
leukocyte
 They contain granules of heparin,
histamine
And substances that stimulate
inflammation and attract white blood
Immigrant cells Found In Connective
Tissue Cont,d

Leukocytes

 These migrate from the blood.

 1. Neutrophils leave the blood stream in response to
infection.
 2. Eosinophils are found in increased number during
allergic reactions and parasitic diseases.
Immigrant cells Found In
Connective Tissue Cont,d

Macrophages
 Derived from monocytes in the bone marrow
 And circulate in the blood before migrating into the
connective tissue where they rapidly transform into
macrophages.
 They can proliferate locally.
 They are phagocytic cells that have a body-wide
distribution
 And live for several months. 10-30 µm in diameter.
Immigrant cells Found In Connective
Tissue
Immigrant Cells found in Connective Tissue

Mast Cells
Mast cells are the largest of the cells in the connective tissue (20-
30µm diameter) (except for adipocytes) and are widely
dispersed. Basophilic granules containing heparin (an
anticoagulant) fill the cytoplasm. Histamine is also present,
which increases the permeability of small blood vessels and, in
airways, causes increased mucous production and smooth
muscle contraction. Mast cells are sensitive to foreign
proteins and rapidly release their contents when these are
detected.
They are the cells which react in hay fever and asthma.
Mast cells share many characteristics with a type of leukocyte
(white blood cell) called a basophil.
Immigrant Cells found in Connective
Tissue
Immigrant Cells found in Connective Tissue
Immigrant Cells found in Connective Tissue
 Extracellular Matrix of Connective
Tissue
Extracellular matrix:
Consisting of Fibres:
Collagen, Reticular and Elastic fibres
Ground substance: an amorphous, space
occupying material made of huge unbranched
polysaccharide molecules called
glycosaminoglycan (GAGs), most of which are
bound to protein cores to form glycoproteins
Tissue fluid.
 COLLAGEN
 The most abundant protein in the human body
constituting 30-40% of the protein in the body.
 Collagen is synthesised in the fibroblasts and is
formed from three polypeptide chains. Collagen
molecules are approximately 300nm long and have
striations every 68nm.

 Collagen fibrils are inelastic and the most common

form (type I) has a tensile strength (on a weight for
weight basis) similar to mild steel, giving a tissue
which is both flexible and strong.
COLLAGEN FIBRILS
Reticular Fibres
Reticular fibres are thin
fibres, made of a special
type of collagen (Type III),
that forms a support
network in many organs
(indeed, the word ‘reticular’
comes from reticulum
which is Latin for a net).
 Reticular fibres form the
supporting scaffolding in
organs like the liver, lymph
nodes, spleen and bone
marrow.
 Elastic Fibres
 Elastic fibres provide elasticity
to tissue.
 Elastic fibres are made up of the
proteins elastin (which is a
rubber-band-like molecule) and
the microfibril, fibrillin and
forms random coils.
 Cross-links between elastin
molecules results in an elastic
array of fibres.
 Elastic fibres are present, for
example in blood vessels
providing elastic support and
giving them recoil.
Elastic Fibres Cont,d
 Glycosaminoglycans
 Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are linear(unbranched)
polysaccharides formed by characteristic repeating
disaccharide units.
 With the exception of hyaluronic acid, these linear chains are
bound covalently to a protein core, forming a proteoglycan
molecule.
 This is a three dimensional structure resembling a test tube
brush, with the wire stem representing the protein core and
the bristles representing the GAGs.
 Gags help to give turgor and determine the diffusion of
substances through the extracellular matrix
 Proteoglycans
They are intensely hydrophilic due to the presence of hydroxyl,
carboxyl and sulphate groups in the carbohydrate moiety of the
proteoglycans and are therefore intensely hydrated structures with a
thick layer of solvation water surrounding the molecule.
 The main proteoglycans are composed of a core of protein
associated with GAGS.

Therefore proteoglycans trap water and act somewhat like a

sponge.
This makes the structure resistant to compression if distorted and
much of the elasticity of cartilage is due to this capacity of
proteoglycans to absorb and hold water.
 Structural Glycoproteins
 These compounds can bind molecules on the surface of cells
as well as extracellular matrix components (e.g. collagen) and
so help establish structural continuity between the
cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix.
 The most common are listed below:
 1. Fibronectin: can also bind ECM to ECM
 2. Laminin: found in basal lamina
 3. Chondronectin: found in cartilage
 TYPES OF SOFT
CONNECTIVE TISSUE
 MESENCHYME
Mesenchyme is an
embryonic connective
tissue that differentiates
into cells that become
fibroblasts,
chondrocytes,
adipocytes and
osteocytes (also
muscle). Cells with
this capacity persist at
various sites in the
body.
Types of Soft Connective Tissue: Loose
Types of Soft Connective Tissue:
Loose
Types of Soft Connective Tissue:
Dense
DENSE IRREGULAR CONNECTIVE TISSUE
DENSE REGULAR CONNECTIVE TISSUE
 CLINICAL CORRELATE
Of connective tissue disorders
 SYSTEMIC LUPUS
ERYTHEMATOSUS (SLE)
 This is a systemic autoimmune
disease of connective tissue
which leads to inflammation
of several organs.
 It affects organs like the heart,
joints, skin, lungs, blood
vessels and nervous system.
 Lupus is characterized by the
presence of antibodies directed
against a persons own protein.
 MARFANS SYNDROME
This is a genetic disorder
caused by the misfolding of
fibrillin-1.
It has a variable clinical
presentation ranging from
mild to severe systemic
disease.
 The most serious
manifestatation involve
defects of the heart valves
and aorta.