Skin Flashcards
What is the largest organ in the body?
The skin
What are the 4 tissue types that make up the skin?
Epithelium
Connective tissue
Muscle
Nervous
Does the skin have its own blood and nerve supply?
Yes
What does the skin provide evidence of diagnostically?
Underlying conditions
What are some functons of the skin?
Prevents water loss (epidermis)
Permits body cooling (dermis)
Immune surveillance
UV protection
Energy storage
Sensory information
What are the 2 layers of the skin?
Epidermis
Dermis
What tissue type makes up the epidermis?
Epithelium
What tissue type makes up the dermis?
Connective
What is underneath the epidermis and the dermis?
Hypodermis
What is the hypodermis?
A fatty layer that anchors the skin to underlying structures
What does the hypodermis do?
Anchors the skin to underlying structures
What is the class of the epithelium tissue of the epidermis?
Stratified, getting flatter as you go up
What are the 4 basic cells in the epidermis?
Karatinocytes (contain keratine, waterproof)
Melanocytes (pigment formation, in basil layer)
Langerhans cells (immune surveillance)
Merkel cells (touch receptors)
What are the layers of the epidermis like and what are they formed by?
Fine layers formed by maturing karatinocytes
What are the 5 layers of the epidermis?
Stratum basule (basil layer)
Stratum spinosum
Stratum granulasum (keratine starts being synthesised)
Stratum lucidum
Stratum corneum
What happens to keratine granules as you go up layers of the epidermis?
They breakdown and go up layers until they die and flatten out in the stratum corneum
What is the class of cells in the stratum basal?
Tall columnar cells
What cells are found in the stratum basal?
Melanocytes and merkel cells
What are cells of the stratum basale bound to the BM by?
Hemidesmosomes
What is the interface like between the stratum basale and the dermis?
Irregular
What do the cells in the stratum basale do?
Stem cells that perform continuous proliferation
What happens as cells go to the stratum spinosum?
They shrink and desmosome junctions create ‘spines’
How does the stratum spinosum relate to keratinisation?
Preparative layer for keratinisation
What defines the stratum glanulosum?
Pressure of granules