Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
i Tissues
Ti
Aj
Ajman U
University
i i off SScience
i & TTechnology
h l
Facultyy off Dentistryy
Histology & Cell Biology
08 01 112
Dr. Al-
Al-Moutassem Billah KhairK
Connective Tissues
Connective tissue is the term traditionally applied to a basic type of
tissue of mesodermal origin which provides structural and metabolic support
f other
for h tissues
i andd organs throughout
h h the h body.
b d
Connective tissues usually contain blood vessels and mediate the
exchange of nutrients,
nutrients metabolites and waste products between tissues and
the circulatory system.
A connective tissues contain isolated cells surrounded byy extracellular
All x
material “matrix” which is synthesized by own cells.
Connective tissue viscosity and tensile strength vary according to the
arrangement of their extracellular matrix fibrous and amorphous components
(fibrinogen, collagen, proteoglycans …).
Connective
C i tissues,
i i fact,
in f i di
indicate the
h wide
id range off function
f i off this
hi
type of tissue “supporting tissue”.
Connective tissue locations
They are of two main types, collagen (including reticulin) and elastin. The
blood contains an extracellular fibrous component called fibrinogen, which is
converted into actual fibers of fibrin when blood clots.
clots
1. Collagen is the main fiber type found in most connective tissues and is the
most abundant pprotein in the human body.
y
Collagen fibers are flexible and have a remarkably high tensile strength.
Collagen is secreted into the extracellular matrix in the form of tropocollagen
which consists of three polypeptide α chains (two α1 & one α2) bound
together to form a helical structure. In he extracellular matrix, the
t
tropocollagen
ll molecules
l l polymerize
l i to t form
f collagen
ll fib il then
fibrils, th collagen
ll
fibrils aggregate to form fibers.
The fibers of
connective tissue
The fibers of connective tissue
Collagen
fibers
fib
The ffibers off connective tissue:
The
Th α chains
h i that
th t form
f the
th helix
h li are nott allll alike,
lik andd according
di tot differences
diff
in α chains, as many as 16 different types of collagen have been identified.
These various collagen
g are classified
f byy R Roman numerals on the basis off
chronology of discovery. The main types can be classified as follows:
- Collagen that form long fibrils: Type I (skin, tendon, bone, dentin), type II
(cartilage, vitreous body), type III (skin, muscles, blood vessels), type V (fetal
skin, skin, bone, placenta, most interstitial tissues), type XI (cartilage).
- Collagen
C ll that
h forms
f networks:
k Type
T IV (basement
(b membranes)
b )
- Collagen that forms anchoring fibrils: Type VII (basal lamina).
- Fibril-associated
Fib il i t d collagens:
ll T
Type IX (cartilage,
( til vitreous
it b d ) type
body), t XII
(embryonic tendon & skin), type XIV (fetal skin & tendon).
The fibers of connective tissue:
2. Reticular fibers are closely related to collagen fibers, in that they both consist
of collagen fibrils.
fibrils The reticular fiber is composed of type III collagen & may
also be type IV collagen.
They are formed by loosely packed, thin fibrils bound together by small
interfibrillar bridges. The fibrils do not bundle to form thick fibers.
They are arranged in a mesh-like pattern or network in loose connective
tissue, around glands & smooth muscles, bone marrow and lymphoid organs.
The fibers of connective tissue:
3. Elastic fibe
fiberss aaree composed of th
three
ee types, oxytalan, elaudin and elastic.
Elastin is a rubber-like material which is arranged as fibers &/or
discontinuous sheets in the extracellular matrix particularly of skin, lung
and blood vessels where it confers the properties of stretching and elastic
recoil.
They are
Th ar typically
t i all thinner
thi r than
tha collagen
llag fibers
fib r and
a d arranged
arra g d in
i a branching
bra hi g
pattern to form a three-dimensional network.
They are interwoven with collagen to limit the distensibility of the tissue
and to prevent tearing from excessive stretching.
The fibers of connective tissue
Elastic fibers
The ground substance of connective tissue:
Classification
Cl ifi i is i based
b d on the h composition
i i andd organization
i i off the
h
cellular and extracellular components and on special functions.
I. Generall connective tissue proper:
Loose (areolar) connective tissue
Dense connective tissue: regular , irregular
II. Special
p connective tissue pproper:
p
Adipose tissue, reticular tissue, elastic tissue, mucous tissue
III Supporting (specialized) connective tissue:
III.
Cartilage, bone, peripheral blood.
Connective
tissue
classification
Loose connective tissue:
- Dense connective tissue have more fibers per unit volume than loose
connective
i tissue.
i I contains
It i fewer
f cells
ll andd little
li l groundd substance.
b
- Dense connective tissue can be divided into regular and irregular according to
the arrangement of the fibers.
fibers
A. Dense regular connective tissue is characterized by ordered and densely
ppacked
k arrays y off ffibers and cells. It is the main ffunctional component
p off
tendons, ligaments, aponeuroses and in the stroma of the cornea.
) Tendons are cord-like structures that join muscles to bone.
They consist of parallel bundles of collagen fibers (type I) between which are
rows of fibroblasts (tendinocytes).
The tendon is surrounded by a thin connective tissue capsule, the
epitendineum, which is a dense irregular connective tissue.
Dense
connective
Dense
tissue:
regular
connective
tissue from
a tendon
Dense connective tissue:
) Ligaments join bone to bone. They are similar to tendons, in that they
contain
i fibers
fib andd fibroblasts
fib bl arrangedd in
i parallel,
ll l but
b the
h fibers
fib are less
l
regularly arranged than those in tendons.
Collagen is the major extracellular fiber of most ligaments.
ligaments
Some of the ligaments associated with the spinal column contain considerable
numbers off elastic ffibers and ffew collagen
g ffibers. These ligaments
g are called
elastic ligaments (yellow ligaments).
) Aponeuroses are much like broad flattened tendons. Instead of all of the
fibers lying in parallel arrays, the fibers of aponeuroses are arranged in
multiple layers.
The bundles
Th b dl off collagen
ll fib in
fibers i eachh off the
h layers
l are arrangedd in
i regular
l
arrays and tend to be arranged at 90 o angles to the neighboring layers.
B. Dense irregular connective tissue is characterized by
an abundance of fibe fiberss and few cells. Cells aaree
typically fibroblasts.
It exists in the dermis of the skin, capsules of organs
(liver, spleen, …) and in the periosteum surrounding
bones.
It provides significant strength because of the high
proportion of collagen fibers.
The fibers are arranged in bundles oriented in
vari directions
various dir ti to t withstand
with ta d stresses
tr t which
to whi h an
a
organ or structure may be subjected.
Reticular tissue:
Large
artery
H
Human A
Aorta
t
Mucous tissue:
Mucous tissue is the principal
component off the h umbilical
bili l cordd
“Wharton’s jelly” and, also, found in
the pulp of young teeth.
Mucous tissue is a jellylike tissue
containing very few fibers and the
cells are mainly fibroblasts.
Mucous tissue has an abundance of
groundd substance
b composedd mainly
l off
hyaluronic acid.
Mucous tissue of an embryo
Adipose
p tissue:
- Adipose tissue of two types that have different locations, structures, colors,
and pathologic characteristics.
A. White adipose tissue “unilocular”
A unilocular is distributed throughout the body
especially in the deep layer of the skin, the breasts, over the abdomen, around
the hips
p and buttocks.
Unilocular adipose tissue accounts for about 25% of the normal weight in
female and 20% in male.
In addition to being an important energy store, white adipose tissue acts as a
thermal insulator under the skin and functions as a cushion against
mechanical
h i l shock
h k ini suchh sites
it as aroundd kidneys
kid andd eyes. Adipose
Adi ti
tissue
infiltrates the mesenteries and the omentum in varying degrees.
White adipose tissue is composed of large polyhedral cells
(50-150 µµm) and small amount off extracellular matrix
containing reticular fibers. It is subdivided into incomplete
lobules by septa of connective tissue containing blood vessels.
Adipocytes contain a single central fat vacuole that is not
bounded by a plasma memb
membrane,
ane, but appea
appear to be bounded
by a regularly spaced array of 9 nm diameter filaments. The
nucleus flat and unremarkable peripherally located.
The cell cytoplasm is reduced to a small peripheral rim
aaround
ound the fat ddroplet
oplet containing the usual aarray
ay of
organelles.
A rich network of blood capillaries is found in between cell.