Connective Tissue
Dr K.W.S.M. Wijayawardhana
MBBS (Col)
Objectives
• Describe the classification of connective tissue
• Describe the components of connective tissue
• Describe the different types of cells in connective tissue
• Describe the location of different types of connective tissue
• Identify the microscopic features of connective tissue
• Interpret the clinical significance
Connective / Supportive tissue
➢Tissues which provide general structure, mechanical
strength, space filling (sculpting body shape), and
physical and metabolic support for more specialized
tissues
What are the functions of the connective tissue ?
Components
1. ECM -extracellular matrix
• combined mix of fibres and ground substance determines the physical
properties of the tissue
• produced and assembled under the control of support cells
2. Cells
• Different types
• synthesis, maintenance and recycling of ECM
Structural properties of Connective tissues
1. Tensile strength - resist pulling, stretching and tearing.
-provided by strong fibres of structural protein from the collagen family
2. Elasticity - facilitate return to original shape after mechanical distortion
-provided mostly by specialised elastin fibrils (like rubber)
3. Volume (bulk/substance)
- provided by glycoproteins and complex carbohydrates with profound
water-binding ability, forming a wet gel known as ground substance
Components of connective tissue
A - Bundles of fibrous
A
proteins
B
B- Ground substance
C C – Blood vessel
D – Fibroblasts
D
Mesenchyme
• Mesenchyme is the embryological tissue from which all types of
supporting/connective tissue are derived
• Mesenchymal cells are relatively unspecialized
• Capable of differentiation into all supporting tissue cell types
• Some mesenchymal cells remain in mature supporting tissue and act
as stem cells
• Mesenchymal cells -irregular, star cells
(stellate) or spindle (fusiform) shape
• Has delicate branching cytoplasmic
extensions which form an interlacing
network throughout the tissue.
• The nuclei have dispersed chromatin
and visible nucleoli
• The matrix consists almost exclusively of
blue-staining ground substance without
mature fibres
• Fibres of the connective tissue
• Ground substance
• Basement membrane
• Cells of connective tissue
1. Structural cells
2. Defence cells
• Adipose tissue
1. White
2. Brown
Fibres of the connective tissue
• Fibrous components of connective tissues are of two main types:
1. Collagen
• main fibre type found in most supporting tissues and is the most
abundant protein in the human body
• provision of tensile strength toresist pulling, stretching and tearing
2. Elastin
• arranged as fibres and/or discontinuous sheets in the extracellular
matrix where
• confers the properties of stretching and elastic recoil
Types of Collagen
• At least 28 different types of collagen
1. Type I collagen - the main structural collagen found in skin (dermis)
tendons, ligaments and bone
- great tensile strength to the tissue
- visible with the light microscope, staining pink with H&E, with fibres in
varying patterns of orientation, size and density according to the mechanical
support required in the tissue
2. Type II collagen - the main structural collagen of hyaline cartilage
consists of fibrils in the cartilage ground substance.
3. Type III collagen -forms the delicate branched ‘reticular’ supporting
meshwork in highly cellular tissues such as the liver, bone marrow and
lymphoid organs
-these fibre was initially recognised by its affinity for silver salts and was
(and often still is) called reticulin
4. Type IV collagen - network/mesh-forming collagen
- an important constituent of basement membranes
5. Type VII collagen- forms special anchoring fibrils that
• link extracellular matrix to basement membranes.
Fascia in the hand - Collagen fibres are large, tightly packed and oriented in one
direction for maximal tensile strength.
Longitudinal section Transverse section
Dermis of the skin Fibroadipose tissue from a finger
less tightly packed collagen fibres fine collagen fibres coursing between
running perpendicular to each other adipocytes (Ap)
(longitudinal and transverse) to give and blood vessels (BV)
strength in both directions.
Elastin
• Elastin is found in varying proportions in most supporting tissues, conferring
elasticity to enable recovery of tissue shape following normal physiological
deformation
• Elastin is present in large amounts in tissues such as lung, skin and urinary
bladder
• Lung - to stretch and recoil during respiration
• Bladder – to stretch to store urine
• Wall of blood vessels; in arteries - provides the stretch and recoil to smooth
and transmit the pulse pressure generated by each heartbeat
• Elastin is eosinophilic
• May need special elastin stains
Wall of an elastic artery
H & E stain Elastin stain
more eosinophilic and wave-like elastin is stained black and
collagen red
Ground substance
• Transparent material with the physical character of semi-solid gel
• It is a mixture of glycoproteins and complex carbohydrates with
profound water-binding ability
• Extracellular fluid, both water and salts (particularly sodium), are
bound to these molecules, providing volume and compression
resistance to the tissue and its tissue turgor ( the internal pressure)
• Indirectly control the passage of both molecules and cells through
the tissue and the exchange of metabolites with the circulatory
system
1. hyaluronate -long, linear molecules
2. glycosaminoglycans (GAGs
3. Proteoglycans
4. further glycoprotein molecules
Basement membranes
• sheet-like arrangements of extracellular matrix proteins which act as an
interface between the support tissues and epithelial or parenchymal cells
• The term derives from the initial recognition of membranes lying beneath the
basal cells of epithelia
• associated with blood vessels and muscle cells and form a limiting membrane
around the central nervous system.
• In the context of muscle and nervous tissue, the term external lamina is often
applied
• The main components of basement membranes and external laminae are the
glycosaminoglycan heparan sulphate, type IV collagen, and the structural
glycoproteins
BM of duodenal crypts BM of renal tubules
Functions of Basement membrane
1. Provide physical support & binding of the epithelium to the underlying
tissue
2. Control of epithelial growth and differentiation -form a barrier to
downward epithelial growth. if epithelia undergo malignant transformation
(cancer), this is breached
3. Permit the flow of nutrients, metabolites and other molecules to and from
an epithelium, as epithelium is devoid of blood vessels
4. Selective barrier to the passage of molecules from one compartment to
another
Adipose tissue
• Supporting tissues contain cells specialized for the storage of fat
• The recognizable precursors to adipocytes are called lipoblasts
• Adipocytes are found in isolation or in small clusters throughout loose
supporting tissues and are found as the main cell type in adipose tissues
• Regarded as an inactive energy store. An important participant in general
metabolic processes, acting as a store of substrate for the energy
generating processes of almost all tissues
• Reflecting this metabolic importance, adipose tissue generally has a rich
blood supply
• The rate of fat deposition and utilization within adipose tissue is largely
determined by dietary intake and energy expenditure
• A number of hormones influence metabolism. Adipocytes have receptors
for insulin, glucocorticoids, growth hormone and noradrenalinthat modulate
uptake and release of fat
• Adipocytes have an endocrine role. Coordination with hormones such as
insulin, contribute to regulation of body mass.
• The protein messengers from adipose tissue have been collectively called
adipocytokines
• There are two main types of adipose tissue
1. White - macroscopically a pale yellow
2. Brown - a darker brown tint
White adipose tissue
• Comprises up to 20% of total body weight in normal (target weight)
well-nourished male adults and up to 25% in females but can reach
more than 50% in obesity
• Distributed throughout the body, particularly in the deep layers of the
skin
• Adipose tissue is pale staining because virtually all the cell is occupied
by lipid, which is dissolved out in paraffin-embedded tissue
preparations
N - The adipocyte nucleus
compressed and displaced to
one side of the stored lipid
droplet and the cytoplasm is
reduced to a small rim
around the periphery
P - tangential slicing of the
top or bottom of a cell is
seen as a sheet of pink-
stained cytoplasm
C - blood capillaries
• The cell membrane, a thin rim of peripheral cytoplasm and the
external lamina collectively give a ‘chicken-wire’ appearance
• Fat stored in adipocytes accumulates as lipid droplets that fuse to
form a single large droplet which distends and occupies most of the
cytoplasm
Functions of white adipose tissue
1. Triglyceride storage and mobilization
2. Structural fill; fills in spaces such as in pelvic and perirectal areas and
axilla. Contributes to sculpting body shape and outline.
3. Acts as a thermal insulator under the skin
4. Forms part of shock-absorbing padding
• e.g. around kidneys. Fat divided into lobules, each surrounded by
fibrous tissue, forms a flexible and deformable cushion against
compression, essentially a biological bubble wrap.
• finger pulps and the soles of feet
Brown adipose tissue
• Found particularly in newborn mammals and some hibernating
animals
• Only small amounts of brown adipose tissue are found in human
adults, mainly around the adrenals.
• This tissue is rich in mitochondria and specialized for generation of
heat; it plays a part in body temperature regulation
Low power Medium power High power
Brown adipose tissue is arranged in lobules Lo separated by fibrous
septa S which convey blood vessels and
sympathetic nerve fibres
Cells of connective tissue
• The cells of supporting tissue are derived from precursor cells in
primitive (fetal) supporting tissue called mesenchyme
• Their dominant common function is synthesis, maintenance and
recycling of extracellular matrix material
• With the exception of cartilage, supporting tissues are vascularised,
containing arteries, capillaries, veins and lymphatics with associated
cells of the innate immune system, such as mast cells and tissue
macrophages
Types of cells
1. Fibroblasts - secrete, maintain and recycle the matrix in most tissues
2. Myofibroblasts - are an activated form of fibroblast associated with
repair. They have a contractile function as well as a role in secretion of
matrix.
3. Adipocytes -are modified support cells specialized in the storage and
metabolism of fat; collectively they form adipose tissue.
4. Chondrocytes, osteoblasts and osteocytes – responsible for secreting
and maintaining the matrix in cartilage and bone, respectively
Defense cells
Fixed (intrinsic) cells Wandering (extrinsic) cells
1. tissue-fixed macrophages All the remaining members of
(histiocytes) - derived from the white blood cell series
circulating monocytes
Leucocytes are normally found
2. mast cells - similar to only in relatively small numbers
basophils in structure and but, in response to tissue injury
function and other disease processes,
their numbers increase greatly
Clinical Significance
1. Diseases due to disorders of collagen
• Scurvy
• Ehlers-Danlos syndromes- abnormal skin laxity and hypermobility of joints
2. Disorders of basement membranes
• Kidney – DM patients with thickened BM
• Autoimmune disease( Goodpasture syndrome- antibodies against BM)
• Cancer
3. Obesity
4. Repair to damaged tissues is mainly delivered by support cells from
connective tissues
Any Questions ?
[email protected]
1. Identify the microscopic
A
specimen
B
2. the structures denoted by
C A,B, C & D
D
• A - Bundles of fibrous proteins
• B- Ground substance
• C – Blood vessel
• D – Fibroblasts
1. Identify the microscopic
specimen
2. State 2 functions
References
1. Wheater’s Functional Histology -A Text and Colour Atlas –
Barbara Young, Geraldine O’Dowd, Phillip Woodford – 6th edition
2. Robbins Basic Pathology – 9th edition
3. Junqueira’s Basic Histology TEXT AND ATLAS - Anthony L.
Mescher – 14th edition
Thank you !
