Connective Tissue Flashcards
Responsible for providing and maintaining form in the body
Connective Tissue
Connective tissue divided into several types depending on;
✓ period of occurrence
✓ amount of intracellular substance
✓ arrangement of fibers
✓ presence of specific features
General characteristics of connective tissue
✓ made up of fewer cells that are set far apart
✓ supported by abundant intercellular substance
✓ contain connective tissue fiber
✓ different contents of intercellular substance, CT cells and fibers account
General functions of Connective Tissue
✓ provide a matrix that serves to connect and bind the cells and organs
✓ give mechanical support to the body
✓ storage of fat and certain minerals like calcium and bones
✓ exchange of metabolites between blood and tissues
✓ significant role in the repair and healing of wounds
✓ for protection against infection
functions of connective tissues
✓ CONNECT one tissue to another
✓ SUSPEND organs from the body wall
✓ INSULATE organs from mechanical damage
✓ account for the FORM of the organs
✓ serve as NUTRITIVE function as well
✓ aid in SUPPORT AND LOCOMOTION in conjunction with other tissues
Connective Tissue Proper
✓ loose CT
✓ Dense CT - regular & irregular
special properties of connective tissue
✓ adipose CT
✓ elastic CT
✓ hematopoietic CT
✓ mucous CT
supporting connective tissue
✓ cartilage
✓ bone
composition of connective tissue
✓ CT cells
✓ CT fibers
✓ intercellular or ground substance
✓ blood vessels - except in mucous CT and in cartilage
are immigrant cells usually from blood or bone marrow.
wandering cells
some retain their original characteristics and may take up permanent residence there;
✓ mast cells
✓ plasma cells
✓ pigment cells
✓ blood leukocytes
are native to the tissue in which they are found;
- undifferentiated mesenchymal cells
- fibroblast
- macrophages
- fat cells
eight resident cells
✓ fibroblasts
✓ mast cells
✓ pericytes
✓ fat or adipose cells
✓ macrophages
✓ mesenchymal cells
✓ foreign body giant cells
✓ reticular cells
remain undifferentiated in adult CT and constitute a reserve population of stem cells.
adventitial cells
often located along the walls of blood vessels
perivascular cells
capable of differentiation either into the usual cell types or into other cell type such as smooth muscle cells
pluripotential cells
unspecialised mesodermal tissue
mesenchymal CT
a more advanced stage of mesenchymal CT. Present in the Wharton’s jelly of the umbilical cord, comb, wattle of birds and lamina propria of omasum.
mucoid CT
intercellular substance - amorphous matrix and ground substance appears granular in proper fixation
principal component
fine collagen and elastic fibers and cells and mesenchymal cells.
minor component
Fibroblast classified as?
✓ lamellar or pyriform-shaped (youngest)
✓ spindle or fusiform (intermediate in age)
✓ stellate or star-shaped (mature)
Macrophages may either be?
✓ fixed or resting
✓ free, wandering
act as scavengers engulfing extravasated blood cells, dead cells, bacteria and foreign bodies.
macrophages
fully differentiated cells and are incapable of mitotic division
fat cells
found in most of the bulk of the human body
yellow or white
concerned with heat production, particularly important in newborn and young animals
brown fat cells
seven transient cells of CT
✓ plasma cells
✓ monocytes
✓ basophils
✓ pigment cells
✓ neutrophils
✓ lymphocytes
✓ eosinophils
plasma cells
✓ “activated” B lymphocytes
✓ very common cellular component of CT
✓ oval with eccentrically placed nucleus
✓ present in inflammatory sites, lymphatic organs, and in the lamina propria of the Gut
✓ differentiate from circulating blood CT
✓ principal producers of antibodies (immunoglobulins) that participate in the body’s humoral defense against infection
pigment cells or melanocytes
✓ pigment-containing cells of loose CT
✓ numerous in pigmented loose CT like in the core or the iris, ciliary body and ciliary process of the eye
✓ resemble the fibroblast but whose cytoplasm contains pigment granules that never invade the nucleus