BONE TISSUE

Sugiharto, Ph.D
Bone
• Bone is made up of several different tissues working together: bone
tissue, cartilage, dense connective tissue, epithelium, blood forming
tissues, adipose tissue, and nervous tissue
• Each individual bone is an organ
• Dynamic and ever-changing throughout life
• The bones, along with their cartilages, make up the skeletal system
Functions of bone
• Support
• Bone supports the body by forming the endoskeleton. Bones also provide
attachment to the skeletal muscles.
• Movement
• Movement in the body is produced by contraction of muscles that pull at
bones.
• Protection of internal organs
• Bones provide a rigid covering for protecting the internal organs, e.g. cranial
bones protect the brain, vertebral column protects the spinal cord and the rib
cage protects the heart and lungs.
Functions of bone
• Mineral balance
• Minerals, such as calcium and phosphorous, are stored in bones and released
into circulation when needed.
• Haemopoeisis
• The cavities of bones are lined by red bone marrow that produces blood cells,
a process known as haemopoeisis.
• Fat storage
• In infants all bones have a red bone marrow engaged in haemopoeisis but
with age the red bone marrow is replaced by yellow bone marrow that serves
to store fats in the form of triglycerides which are released when needed.
Structure of bones
• Long bones • Short bones
• Their length is more • Their length and width
than their width, e.g., are almost equal and
bones of the upper and they seem cuboid or
lower limbs round e.g. bones of the
wrist and ankles
Structure of bones
• Flat bones • Irregular bones
• These are thin, flat, and • These have no definite
usually curved, e.g. shape, e.g. the sphenoid
bones of the skull and bone of the skull and
the ribs and the breast vertebrae
bone
Histology of bone
• Bone consists of cells and an intercellular matrix
 The matrix is made up of 25% water, 25% protein fibres and 50%
minerals
 The matrix has a framework of collagen fibres and proteoglycans
(organic matrix) around which mineral salts, such as calcium phosphate
(hydroxyapatite, the major constituent), calcium carbonate and small
amounts of magnesium hydroxide, fluoride and sulphate (the inorganic
matrix), are deposited
 The process of deposition of these mineral salts is known as
calcification or mineralization and is initiated by a type of bone cell, the
osteoblast. Before mineralization, the bone is known as an osteoid.
Histology of bone
• The collagen fibres and proteoglycans provide flexibility and the
mineral salts provide hardness to the bone
• Without collagen fibres and proteoglycans bones become brittle and
without mineral salts bones become rubbery.
Bone tissue
• Bone is a mineralized connective tissue
• There are four type of bone cells:
• Osteoprogenitor (osteogenic) cells  undifferentiated cells
 Can divide to replace themselves and can become osteoblasts
 Found in inner layer of periosteum and endosteum
• Osteoblasts  form matrix and collagen fibers but can’t divide
• Osteocytes  the principal cells of bone tissue
 Mature cells that no longer secrete matrix
• Osteoclasts  huge cells from fused monocytes (WBC)
 Serve to break down bone tissue
 Function in bone resorption at surfaces such as endosteum
Bone cells
Cartilage
• Specialized dense connective tissue
• Semi rigid, designed to give support, bear weight and withstand
tension, torsion and bending
• Devoid of blood vessels and not innervated by nerve
• Most of them are calcified in old age
• Cartilage can grow by interstitial and appositional growth
Cartilage
Function of cartilage
• Supports soft tissues
• Shock absorbing and sliding area for joints (smooth surface)
• Essential for the development and growth of long bones
Component of cartilage
• Perichondrium
 Dense regularly arranged connective tissue (type I collagen); ensheaths
cartilage; houses vasculature; home of chondroblast precursors (look like
fibroblasts)
• Chondroblast
 Progenitor of chondrocyte; secretes type II collage and other extracellular
matrix components (chondroblasts build)
Component of cartilage
• Chondrocyte
 Mature cartilage cell surrounded by matrix; reside in spaces called lacunae
• Matrix
 Composed of fibers (either collagenous or elastic) and ground substance (rich
in glycosaminoglycans [GAGs], especially chondroitin sulfates); provides
rigidity, elasticity, and resilience
Types of cartilage
• Hyaline cartilage
• Elastic cartilage
• Fibrous cartilage
Hyaline cartilage
• Most common type
• Makes the skeletal model of most bones in embryo
• Gradually replaced by bone in grown ups except at the articular
surface of bones, ends of the ribs, nose, larynx, trachea and bronchi
• Covered with perichondrium
• Matrix is homogenous which consists of chondroitin sulphate and
collagen fibers
Elastic cartilage
• Present in external ear, epiglottis, auditory tube and few cartilage of
larynx
• Covered with perichondrium
• Number of cells are more
• Matrix consist of bundles of branching and anastomosing elastic fibers
which give elasticity to the tissue
Fibrous cartilage
• Found in intervertebral disc, pubic symphysis, intrarticular disc of
certain joints, menisci of knee joint and articular cartilage of
temporomandibular cartilage
• Consists of bundles of collagen fibers embedded in minimal amount
of matrix
• Cells are usually placed single in between the bundles of collagen
fibers
• Not covered with perichondrium
MUSCULAR TISSUE
Sugiharto, Ph.D
Muscle tissue
• Muscle tissue is specialized for contraction
• Each muscle is made of many long, cylindrical fibres arranged in
parallel arrays
• These fibres are composed of numerous fine fibrils, called myofibrils
• They contain the contractile proteins actin and myosin, which interact
to shorten and elongate the cells
Muscle tissue
• There are three
different types of
muscle tissue:
 Skeletal
 Smooth
 Cardiac
Skeletal muscle
• Skeletal muscle is responsible for overall body mobility
• Skeletal muscles are attached to bones, and contraction of these
muscles generates body movements
• The skeletal muscle fibers are long and cylindrical, with multiple
peripherally located nuclei
• The cells have striations, alternating light and dark bands that result
from the ordered arrangement of actin and myosin within the cell
Skeletal muscle
• Although it is often activated by reflexes, skeletal muscle is called
voluntary muscle because it is the only type subject to conscious
control
Cardiac muscle
• Cardiac muscle tissue occurs only in the heart, where it constitutes
the bulk of the heart walls
• Like skeletal muscle cells, cardiac muscle cells are striated, but cardiac
muscle is not voluntary
• Cardiac muscle tissue can and does contract without being stimulated
by the nervous system
• Cardiac muscle usually contracts at a fairly steady rate set by the
heart’s pacemaker, but neural controls allow the heart to speed up for
brief periods
Smooth muscle
• Smooth muscle tissue is found in the walls of hollow visceral organs,
such as the stomach, urinary bladder, and respiratory passages
• Its role is to force fluids and other substances through internal body
channels
• Like skeletal muscle, smooth muscle consists of elongated cells, but
smooth muscle has no striations
• Like cardiac muscle, smooth muscle is not subject to voluntary control
• Its contractions are slow and sustained
Characteristics of muscle tissue
• Excitability, also termed responsiveness
 Is the ability of a cell to receive and respond to a stimulus by changing
its membrane potential
 In the case of muscle, the stimulus is usually a chemical—for example, a
neurotransmitter released by a nerve cell
Characteristics of muscle tissue
• Contractility is the ability to shorten forcibly when adequately
stimulated
 This ability sets muscle apart from all other tissue types
• Extensibility is the ability to extend or stretch
 Muscle cells shorten when contracting, but they can stretch, even
beyond their resting length, when relaxed
• Elasticity is the ability of a muscle cell to recoil and resume its resting
length after stretching
Muscle functions
• Produce movement
• Maintain posture and body position
• Stabilize joints
 Even as they pull on bones to cause movement, they strengthen and stabilize
the joints of the skeleton
• Generate heat
 Muscles generate heat as they contract, which plays a role in maintaining
normal body temperature
A skeletal muscle is made up of muscle
fibers,
nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissues
Skeletal muscle
• Each skeletal muscle is a discrete organ, made up of several kinds of
tissues
• Skeletal muscle fibers predominate, but blood vessels, nerve fibers,
and substantial amounts of connective tissue are also present
• Unlike cells of cardiac and smooth muscle tissues, which can contract
without nerve stimulation, every skeletal muscle fiber is supplied with
a nerve ending that controls its activity
Skeletal muscle
• Skeletal muscle has a rich blood supply. This is understandable because
contracting muscle fibers use huge amounts of energy and require
almost continuous delivery of oxygen and nutrients via the arteries
• Muscle cells also give off large amounts of metabolic wastes that must
be removed through veins if contraction is to remain efficient
• Muscle capillaries, the smallest of the body’s blood vessels, are long
and winding and have numerous cross-links, features that
accommodate changes in muscle length
• They straighten when the muscle stretches and contort when the
muscle contracts
Skeletal muscle
• In an intact muscle, several different connective tissue sheaths wrap
individual muscle fibers. Together these sheaths support each cell and
reinforce and hold together the muscle, preventing the bulging
muscles from bursting during exceptionally strong contractions
Skeletal muscle
• Epimysium (outside the muscle) is an “overcoat” of dense irregular
connective tissue that surrounds the whole muscle
• Perimysium and fascicles
• Within each skeletal muscle, the muscle fibers are grouped into fascicles
(bundles) that resemble bundles of sticks
• Surrounding each fascicle is a layer of dense irregular connective tissue called
perimysium (around the muscle)
• Endomysium (within the muscle) is a wispy sheath of connective
tissue that surrounds each individual muscle fiber. It consists of fine
areolar connective tissue