Connective Tissue Flashcards
What is connective tissue made up of?
Extracellular matrix- ground substance and fibres (collagen, reticular fibres, elastic fibres)
Cells
Name 3 types of specialised connective tissue?
Blood Cartilage Adipose tissue Lymphatic tissue Haemopoietic tissue
What is the origin of mesenchymal cells?
The mesoderm cells of the middle embryonic germ layer
What is mesenchyme?
Multipotent progenitor cells which can give rise to various connective tissue
What is ground substance made up of?
Proteoglycans- core protein + 100s of GAG units
Hyaluronic acid
Collagen fibrils
Water
Describe the structure of a type I collagen fibre
Staggered collagen molecules which form a repeating banding pattern. Composed of a triple helix of a-chains. Every third amino acid is a glycine molecule
Name the three types of connective tissue structures + where they can be found
Loose- mammary gland
Dense regular- dermis, thymus gland
Dense irregular- tendons, skeletal muscle
What happens to the lipid droplets in
i. ) brown adipose tissue?
ii. ) white adipose tissue?
i. ) remain separate
ii. ) fuse to form large lipid droplet
What is the function of connective tissue?
Support
Medium for diffusion
Infection defence
Cushioning between organs