Connective Tissue Flashcards
Embryonic Connective Tissue
Umbilical cord (“Wharton’s Jelly”), pulp of developing teeth.
Rich in extracellular matrix
Rich in mesenchymal (stem) cells (differentiate into any blood or connective tissue cell)
Elastic Connective Tissue
Abundance of elastic fibers
Found in walls of large blood vessels and ligaments
Reticular Connective Tissue
Abundance of reticular fibers (made by fibroblasts)
Found in lymphatic tissue
White Fat
Reserve of long term energy
Made of Unilocular Adipocytes
(pushes nucleus to the side wall
White fat adipocytes= “Signet rings” (look like rings)
Brown Fat
Used to dissipate energy
Made of Multilocular Adipocytes
(have numerous lipid deposits)
What does an adipocyte do?
It’s a modified fibroblast
Stores lipid in a single vacuole (unilocular)
Important for energy storage
Fat vs skinny people
Have same # of adipocytes. It’s how much fat is stored in each that matters
Weight loss: cells will look wrinkled
Can fat cells be found in other places like bone marrow?
Yes
What do Fibroblasts do?
Make and secrete proteoglycans, glycoproteins and precursor molecules of collagen and elastin
Collagen
Fibrous protein
3 fibrous chains form a triple helix coiled-coil for strength
5 types
Types of collagen (1-5)
1: bone, skin, tendons
2. Cartilage
3. Reticulin (wound repair, skin, vessels, lymph organs)
4. Basement membrane
5. Fetal amnion and chorion, muscle and tendon sheaths
Different kinds of MΦ (depending on tissue)
Liver → Kupffer Cells
Bone → Osteoclasts
CNS → Microglial Cells
Plasma cells
Have “Cartwheel” nucleus based on distribution of heterochromatin
Describing each cell
Fibroblasts: spindle-shaped cell/oval nuclei
MΦ: “junk” in cytoplasm
Mast cells: dense, dark cytoplasmic granules
Plasma cells: “cartwheel/clock face nucleus”
