Connective Tissue (CT) Flashcards
What are the roles of CT proper?
Maintains and supports structure and communicates
Mediates exchange
plays a role in immune response, inflammation and tissue repair
What are the components of CT Proper?
Extracellular Matrix (ECM) & fibers functionally apart of ECM
Cells (resident vs visiting)
What are the two major components of the ECM?
ground substance
fibrous proteins embedded throughout the ground substance
What determine the properties of CT?
Extracellular matrix
What is ground substance?
largely proteoglycans (proteins, GAGs, linked to hyaluronic acid) attract water to create a hydrated gel
What are structural glycoproteins?
Connect the compoents of the ECM to each other including the cells and fibers
Fibronectin, fibrillin
What are Type I Collagen Fibers?
Most abundant type
found in ligament, tendon, fascia, joint capsules, bone
What is Type I collagen fiber structure?
Bundled, cross-linked structure makes it exceptionally strong and resilient to tensile forces
What are the resident cells of CT?
Fibrocytes or fibroblasts
Mesenchymal cells
What is the function mesenchymal cells?
aka stem cells, differentiate into fibroblasts fro growth or when there is damage to a connective tissue structure
what is the function of fibroblast?
responsible for producing and secreting all of the components of the ECM
What are the visiting cells of CT?
Macrophage
Mast cell
Plasma cells
What are the function of macrophages?
picks up debri
identify foreign substances within tissue and present them to the b lymphocytes (plasma cells)
pro inflammatory; can secrete substances that can start an inflammatory cascade
What are the functions of mast cells?
Produce and secrete vasoactive types of substances; starting an allergic response Cause blood vessels to dilate and causes localized swelling
Heparin: anticoagulant, makes blood within vessels thinner
what are the function of plasma cells?
Produce antibodies