Connective Tissue Flashcards
Components + Types
Connective Tissue
Definition, traits, types
Tissue with blood vessels that hold other tissues together.
They have lots of extracellular material (ECM) (non-cellular material) between cells and don’t touch.
The blood vessels transport nutrients, waste and O2 for cells in the connective tissue + other nearby tissues
White blood cells around found in blood to fight pathogens.
Extracellular Matrix
(ECM)
Proteins and polysarccarides that provide structure to tissues and organs, give organs their shapes, determine the properties of tissue, and connects cells in the connective tissue and other types of cells.
Components of ECM
- Protein Fibers
- Collagen
- Ground substance
- Intersticial fluid
Protein Fibers
Long strings of proteins making a long chain to provide structural support to cells. They branch and interconnect to form large networks.
Collagen
The most common protein in ECM and in the body with strong fibers and resist stretching.
Reticular fibers
A type of collagen that creates a mesh-like network that gives many organs their shape. They’re found at the borders between connective tissues.
Elastin
A type of protein fiber that stretches, making tissue elastic.
Ground Substance
A gel like substance that’s composed of everything in the extracellular matrix except the fibers.
The substance holds fibers, polysaccharides, and water.
Proteoglycans
Proteins with big polysaccharides attached that make up most of ground substance.
The more proteoglycans, the more gel like the ground substance.
Interstitial fluid
The fluid cells sit in that’s composed of water with ions, gasses (diffused through blood), and organic molecules (mostly waste) moving through the extracellular matrix.
Connective tissue cells
- Fibroblasts
- Fibrocyte
Fibroblasts
Connective tissue cells that produce fibers and ground substance. Different types produce different fibers to produce an ECM with different properties.
Fibrocyte
Mature fibroblasts that no longer make new ECM, they help maintain the ECM of connective tissue.
Connective tissue types
Areolar Connective Tissue: Irregular + Loose
Dense Regular Connective Tissue: Tendons, Ligaments, + Aponeurosis
Dense Irregular Connective Tissue
Adipose Tissue: White adipose tissue (WAT) + Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT)
Bone
Collagen: Hyaline, Elastic, Fibrocartilage
Blood: Blood plasma, red + white blood cells
Areolar Connective Tissue
Classified by its loose irregular fibers connective tissue.
Can be found under almost all epithelia in the body holding other tissues in place.
Loose refers to there being lots of interstitial fluid - allowing for substances to diffuse easily and its very gelatinous gel substance.