Connective tissue

Question 1

Embryological origin

Answer 1

Mesoderm

Question 2

What are the 3 basic components of all connective tissue

Answer 2

Cells
Ground substance
fibres (together with ground substance are extracellular matrix)

Question 3

Collagen properties

Types use pneumonic

Answer 3

flexible non branching fibres
regularly arranged
many different types
Type 1: Bone Skin Tendons 
Type2: cartilage
Type3: reticular fibres and blood vessels
Type 4: Basement membrane

Question 4

What makes collagen

Answer 4

Produced by fibroblasts

Question 5

What are reticular fibres

Answer 5

delicate fibres of type III collagen

forms supportive mesh network around many many soft tissues such as liver and secretory cells

Question 6

What are elastic fibres?
What produces them?
What are there properties?

Answer 6

Allow connective tissue to stretch and recoil back to original shape

found in walls of arteries and in the alveoli of the lung

Composed of fibrillin backbone laid down by fibroblasts
Then impregnated and surrounded by elastin

Short branching fibers

Question 7

What is ground substance? What produces it?

Answer 7

mainly water viscous substance found between fibres and cells

Fibroblasts

Question 8

What is the function of ground substance?

Answer 8

acts as a lubricant and barrier to invading microorganisms

Question 9

What is ground substance comprised of

Answer 9

long unbranched polysaccharide chains, glycosaminoglycans glycoproteins and proteoglycans

Question 10

What is the main GAG in loose connective tissue?

Answer 10

hyaluronic acid

Question 11

What are fibrobalsts

Answer 11

Essential cell in consecutive tissue
produce ground substance and fibres
spindle shaped cells with a cigar shaped nucleus

In their inactive form they are call fibrocytes
In bones osteoblasts
in cartilage chondroblasts

Question 12

What are adipocytes

What do they look like

Answer 12

Fat cells
Very large cells
signet shaped
nucleus peripherally located large unilocular fat globule

Question 13

What is white adipose tissue and its function

Answer 13

Consists of many unilocular white adipocytes

Acts as a energy store

Question 14

What is brown adipose tissue? What is its function

Answer 14

Brown adipocytes are mupltilocualr cells contain many more mitochondria
Role in thermogenesis and generation of heat important in neonates

Question 15

Macrophages function?

Answer 15

Shot lived
Differentiate in connective tissue enter from blood via diapedesis
Antigen presentation and immunoprotection as well as phagocytosis of cellular debris

Question 16

What is the function of mast cells?

Answer 16

Secrete and produce histamines

trigger and immune response

Question 17

Where would you find loose arerolar connective tissue?

Answer 17

Surrounding blood vessels basement mebrane

Question 18

Properties and function of loose areolar connective tissue

Answer 18

largely ground substance and some fibroblasts and mainly reticular fibres (depends on location)

Ideal for exchange of nutrients between blood and tissues

acts to absorb shock and bind tissues together
is not resistant to stress

Question 19

What is dense connective tissue

Answer 19

A lot less ground substance

lots more collagen and elastic fibres much fewer cells

Question 20

What is dense irregular connective tissue? Where is it found?

Answer 20

Collagen fibres are arranged randomly

resistance in all directions
found in capsules surrounding organs

Question 21

What is dense regular connective tissue? Where is it found?

Answer 21

Collagen fibres arranged parallel to one another

found in ligament and tendons

resits stretch in one direction

Question 22

Why are tendons so slow to repair?

Answer 22

Lot less ground substance longer for tissue fluid and nutrients to get to cells that are damaged

Question 23

What is Ehlers Danlos syndrome?

Answer 23

Faulty cologne production that leads to hyper-mobility of joints
Dependant on subtype can shorten lifespan increased flexibility of blood vessels prone to anyerusums

Question 24

What is Marfans -syndrome?

Answer 24

mutation in fibrillin gene
faults elastic fibre production and formation of many other connective tissues
usually have very long arms and fingers
weak blood vessels prone to anyerusms