Connective Tissue

Question 1

What is connective tissue made up of?

Answer 1

Extracellular matrix- ground substance and fibres (collagen, reticular fibres, elastic fibres)
Cells

Question 2

Name 3 types of specialised connective tissue?

Answer 2

Blood
Cartilage
Adipose tissue
Lymphatic tissue
Haemopoietic tissue

Question 3

What is the origin of mesenchymal cells?

Answer 3

The mesoderm cells of the middle embryonic germ layer

Question 4

What is mesenchyme?

Answer 4

Multipotent progenitor cells which can give rise to various connective tissue

Question 5

What is ground substance made up of?

Answer 5

Proteoglycans- core protein + 100s of GAG units
Hyaluronic acid
Collagen fibrils
Water

Question 6

Describe the structure of a type I collagen fibre

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Name the three types of connective tissue structures + where they can be found

Answer 7

Loose- mammary gland
Dense regular- dermis, thymus gland
Dense irregular- tendons, skeletal muscle

Question 8

What happens to the lipid droplets in

i. ) brown adipose tissue?
ii. ) white adipose tissue?

Answer 8

i. ) remain separate

ii. ) fuse to form large lipid droplet

Question 9

What is the function of connective tissue?

Answer 9

Support
Medium for diffusion
Infection defence
Cushioning between organs