5 Connective Tissue 1

Connective tissue
Histology lectures 5 and 6

Pharmacy 1st stage
Spring semester 2023/ 24
Connective Tissue -CT (Lecture Plan)
I. Basic components of CT:
-Cells
-Extra Cellular Matrix (ECM): Fibers and Ground Substance
II. Classification of the connective tissue:
a) Embryonic CT
b) Adult connective tissue (Connective tissue proper):
•Loose CT: Location, structure and function
•Dense CT: Location, structure and function
c) Specialized CT: Cartilage and Bone tissue, Adipose tissue, Blood

Connective Tissue:
-Most abundant
-Widespread
-Widest variety of functions
Comparison between connective tissue and epithelial tissue
Epithelial Tissue (Epidermis of the Skin: Connective Tissue (Dermis of the Skin)
(Stratified squamous keratinized) •The main component of connective tissue is
•Epithelial cells have almost no free ECM (Extracellular Matrix).
intercellular substances-ECM •Connective tissue cells are found isolated
•Epithelium is made of tightly packed sheets of within the tissue and widely separated from
cells with no visible ECM. one another.
•Epithelial cells are tightly held each other by •They are not directly attached to one another
junctional structures. like epithelial cells.
Two Main Components of the Connective Tissue: Cells and Extra
Cellular Matrix (ECM):
I) CELLS
Connective tissue cells can be fix/resident
cells or wandering-transient cells.
A) Fix/Resident Cells:
-Fibroblasts-Myofibroblast (ECM synthesis)
-Macrophages (Phagocytosis)
-Adipocytes (fat cells-source of energy)
-Mast cells (responsible for allergy)
-Adult Mesenchymal stem cells (reserve)
B) Wandering/Transient/Visitor Cells
(Soldiers-Fighters come from blood)
•B and T Lymphocyte
•Neutrophils
•Eosinophils
•Basophils
•Monocytes
•Plasma cells
Produce and secrete all
Fibroblasts-Myofibroblast (ECM synthesis)- Extra Cellular Matrix
components
Two Main Components of the Connective Tissue: Cells and Extra
Cellular Matrix (ECM):
II) ECM (Extracellular Matrix):
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is an organized meshwork of
macromolecules surrounding cells.
ECM consists of:
I) Protein Fibers:
•Collagen fibers (30% of prt, very thick and strong)
•Elastic fibers (highly flexible)
•Reticular Fibers (very tiny)
II) Ground Substance:

a) Glycoproteins
b) GAGs: Glycosaminoglycans
c) Proteoglycans: GAG + Protein complex
Who produce ECM?
•All ECM components are produced by Fibroblast.
•It surrounds and separates the cells.
Water-Tissue Fluid (interstitial Fluid –Tissue Fluid) occupies

between cells and ECM.
ECM, along with water-tissue fluid
and other small molecules (e.g.,
nutrients and ions), constitutes the
extracellular environment.
•ECM affects the metabolic activities
of cells in contact with itself.
•ECM may alter the cells and
influence their shape, migration,
division, and their differentiation.
•ECM provides physical support
against compressive as well as tensile
forces.
•Additionally, ECM elements are one
of the most researched and used
materials in tissue engineering,
regenerative medicine and stem cell.
Connective tissue can be classified into three major groups:
1. Embryonic connective tissue (Mucous connective tissue)
2. Adult Connective tissue:
I) Loose or Areolar Connective Tissue (more cells than collagen fibers)
II) Dense Connective Tissue (Less cells and abundant ECM-Collagen
fibers):
a) Regular Dense Connective Tissue (Collagen fibers are arranged in
very regularly parallel bundles)
b) Irregular Dense Connective Tissue (Collagen fibers are arranged in
an irregular form)
3. Specialized connective tissue:
•Adipose tissue
•Cartilage and bone
•Blood
•Embryonic connective tissue found primarily in the umbilical cord-mucous connective
tissue.
•It consists predominantly of stellate-shaped mesenchymal cells producing a hydrophilic
ECM with a jelly-like consistency.
•Because of this consistency, it is also called Wharton’s jelly.
•This jelly structure contains many stem cells and growth factors.
CORD BLOOD BANKING
Purpose of cord blood banking
1.Treatment of Hematological Diseases: Cord blood stem cells can be used in the treatment of various
hematologic diseases, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and several types of anemia. These stem cells are
capable of engrafting in the patient’s bone marrow and reconstituting a healthy blood cell population.
2.Regenerative Medicine: Research is ongoing into the use of cord blood stem cells in regenerative
medicine. These cells have the potential to repair tissues and organs, offering new treatment avenues
for diseases like cerebral palsy, heart disease, and diabetes.
3.Genetic Diseases: Cord blood is employed in the treatment of genetic/metabolic disorders such as
Krabbe disease, Hurler syndrome, and adrenoleukodystrophy. For these diseases, the ability of cord
blood stem cells to differentiate and replace diseased cells is crucial.
4.Immunotherapy: Cord blood cells are used in immunotherapies for cancer treatment, particularly in
efforts to boost or re-establish the immune system’s ability to fight cancer.
5.Sibling Donor Use: Cord blood from a newborn can potentially be used for treating diseases in siblings
who have a compatible HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) type. This compatibility increases the success
rate of transplants due to reduced risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).
6.Banking for Future Use: Many parents opt to bank their child’s cord blood as a form of biological
insurance. The hope is that if needed, these cells could be used in emerging therapies as medical
technology advances.
7.Research Purposes: Stored cord blood is also valuable for medical research, helping scientists study
the development of stem cells and their therapeutic applications in treating chronic diseases
-Adult Connective tissue has considerable structural diversity.
-Because the proportion of cells to fibers varies from tissue to tissue.
-This variable cell-to fibers ratio is the basis for the subclassification of adult connective tissue
proper into two types of adult connective tissue proper:
1. Loose (or areolar) connective tissue
2. Dense connective tissue (Regular dense and irregular dense connective tissue).
•Loose connective tissue contains more cells and

ground substance than collagen fibers.
•It is generally found underlying lining epithelium
(Lamina Propria) and surrounding blood vessels and
internal organs.
Loose or Areolar Connective Tissue
(Lamina Propria)
* Many connective tissue cells
* Many blood vessels
* Exocrine glands
ECM
(Fibers and Ground Substance)
•Loose connective tissue is thus the initial site where pathogenic agents such as bacteria that have
breached an epithelial surface are challenged and destroyed by cells of the immune system.
•Most cell types in loose connective tissue are transient wandering cells that migrate from local blood
vessels in response to specific stimuli.
•Loose connective tissue is, therefore, the site of inflammatory and immune reactions.
•In areas of the body where foreign substances are continually present, large populations of immune
cells are maintained.
•For example, the lamina propria, the loose connective tissue of mucous membranes, such as those of
the respiratory and alimentary systems, contains large numbers of these cells.
Dense connective tissue contains more collagen fibers than cells:
•When the collagen fibers are preferentially oriented, as in tendons, ligaments, the tissue is
called dense regular connective tissue.
When the collagen fibers are randomly oriented, as in the:
•Dermis of the skin,
•Many organ capsules (liver, spleen, kidney, salivary glands, testis, adrenal and thyroid
glands)
•Perichondrium and periosteum (covers cartilage and bone tissue, respectively)
•Epineurium and Epimysium (covers nerves and skeletal muscle),
a) Perichondrium covers cartilage
tissue
(Dense Irregular Connective Tissue)
b) Periosteum covers bone tissue

c) Epimysium covers skeletal muscle

d) Epineurium covers nerve

The special connective tissue category comprises types of connective tissue with special properties not
observed in the embryonic or adult connective tissue proper.
There are four types of special connective tissue:
1. Adipose tissue.
2. Cartilage.
3. Bone.
4. Hematopoietic tissue (Blood and bone marrow).
The two distinct types of adipose tissues in the body:
White adipose tissue (Unilocular) and brown adipose tissue (Multilocular)
White adipose tissue is the more common type and wider distribution than brown adipose t.
Cells of white adipose tissue, the adipocytes, are large and store lipids as a single, large
droplet(Unilocularadipocyte).
The lipids stored in adipose cells are primarily triglycerides (fatty acids and glycerol).
Functions:
•Important energy source
•Providesinsulation under the skin and
•Formscushioning fat pads around different organs
•The white adipose cells also have receptors for insulin, glucocorticoids, growth hormone, and other factors that
influence adipose tissue to accumulate and release lipids
Furthermore, white adipose tissue also functions as an important endocrine organ.
•Adipocytes actively synthesize and secrete adipokines, a group of biologically active substances, which
include hormones, growth factors, and cytokines.
•For this reason, adipose tissue is regarded as an important player in energy homeostasis, adipogenesis,
steroid metabolism, angiogenesis, and immune responses.
•The most notable member of adipokines is leptin hormone discovered in 1994.
•This hormone also influences the cells in the hypothalamus that inhibit or suppress appetite and food intake.
In contrast to the white adipose tissue, which is present throughout the body,
•Brown adipose tissue has a more limited distribution.
•The cells of brown adipose tissue store lipids as multiple small droplets.
•Brown adipose tissue is best developed in animals that hibernate.
•The main function of brown adipose tissue is to supply the body with heat through thermogenesis.
•In newborn humans exposed to cold and in fur-bearing animals emerging from hibernation, brown
adipose tissue is especially useful to generate and increase body heat during these critical periods.
•The amount of brown adipose tissue gradually decreases in older individuals and is mainly found around
the adrenal glands, great vessels, and in the neck region.
•However, as an adaptation, the cold environment activates the development of brown adipose cells and
tissue.
Individual adipose cells appear as empty cells because the fat was dissolved by
chemicals used during routine histologic preparation of the tissue.
•The adipose cell nuclei are compressed to the peripheral rim of the cytoplasm.
•We have to use osmium tetroxide to visualize lipid droplets.
•The OsO₄ dissolves in the fats, and it also reacts with the double bonds in
unsaturated triglycerides.

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Connective tissue

Histology lectures 5 and 6

c) Specialized CT: Cartilage and Bone tissue, Adipose tissue, Blood

II) Ground Substance:

Water-Tissue Fluid (interstitial Fluid –Tissue Fluid) occupies

•Loose connective tissue contains more cells and

b) Periosteum covers bone tissue

c) Epimysium covers skeletal muscle

d) Epineurium covers nerve

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