TISSUE

Introduction
 Tissue (tissu = woven): groups of cells, similar in structure, that perform a common or related
function
 Four primary types of tissue
1. Epithelial
2. Connective
3. Muscle
4. Nervous
 Histology = The study of tissue
 Complements gross anatomy
 Provides the structural basis for understanding physiology
 Can predict the organ’s function

Epithelial Tissue
 Covers the body’s surface or lines a body cavity
 Forms boundaries between different environments
 Functions
1. Protection
2. Absorption
3. Filtration
4. Excretion
5. Secretion
6. Sensory reception
 Characteristics
1. Cellularity
2. Specialized contact
a. Tight junctions
b. Desmosomes
3. Polarity
a. Apical surface
b. Basal surface
c. Microvilli
d. Cilia
e. Basal lamina
f. Reticular lamina
4. Basement membrane = basal lamina + reticular lamina
5. Avascular
6. Regenerative capacity
 Classification
1. Simple
2. Stratified
3. Squamous
4. Cuboidal
5. Columnar
6. Others
a. Pseudostratified columnar
b. Transitional

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CLASSIFICATIONS OF EPITHELIAL TISSUE

Simple Epithelia

Simple Squamous Epithelium

• Description
1. A single layer of cells
2. Flattened cells – think of the tiles in your kitchen floor or bathroom
3. Disk-shaped central nuclei
4. Sparse cytoplasm
5. Simplest of epithelia
• Location
1. Glomeruli – kidney
2. Alveoli (air sacs) – lungs
3. Lining the ventricles of the heart
4. Lining blood vessels = endothelium
5. Lining lymphatic vessels
6. Lining the ventral body cavity = mesothelium
• Function
1. Allows diffusion
2. Filtration
3. Secretion of lubricant

Simple Cuboidal Epithelium

• Description
1. Single-layer of cells
2. Cube-like cells
3. Large central nuclei
• Location
1. Renal tubules
2. Ducts
3. Secretory glands
4. Surface of ovary
• Function
1. Secretion
2. Absorption

Simple Columnar Epithelium

• Description
1. Single-layer of tall cells
2. Have oval nuclei toward the basal lamina
3. Some have cilia
4. Some will have goblet cells (mucus-secreting glands)
• Location
1. Small bronchi - ciliated
2. Uterine tubes - ciliated
3. Cervix - ciliated
4. GI tract and gall bladder - microvilli
• Function
1. Absorption

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 2. Secretion
3. Defense mechanism
4. Movement of reproductive cells (ovum or sperm)

Pseudostratified Columnar Epithelium

• Description
1. Single-layer of cells
2. Different in heights
3. Nuclei are at different levels
4. May contain goblet cells
5. Most are ciliated
• Location
1. Most commonly found in the upper respiratory tract (nose  tertiary bronchus)
2. Ducts of large glands
• Function
1. Secretion
2. Propulsion of mucus

Stratified Epithelia

Stratified Squamous Epithelium

• Description
1. Thick membrane with several cell layers
2. Basal cells are cuboidal or short columnar – metabolically active (mitosis)
3. Surface cells are flattened (squamous)
4. In specific regions, surface cells are full of keratin and the cells are dead
• Location
1. Non-keratinized – esophagus, mouth, vagina, anus, cornea
2. Keratinized – skin (epidermis)
• Primary Function: protect the underlying tissues

Stratified Cuboidal
• Description: two layers of cube-like cells
• Location
1. Sweat glands (largest ducts)
2. Mammary glands
3. Salivary glands
• Function: Protection

Stratified Columnar Epithelium

• Description
1. Several cell layers
2. Basal cells are cuboidal
3. Superficial cells elongated and columnar
• Location
1. Rare in our body
2. May see in the male urethra
• Function
1. Protection
2. Secretion

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Transitional Epithelium
• Description: dome-shaped surface epithelial
• Location: ureters, bladder, and the urethra
• Function: allows distension of organ to contain urine

Glandular Epithelium
• Gland = cells that make and secrete a specific product
• Product = secretion
• Secretion can be
1. Serous (high water content, low protein)
2. Mucus (high glycoprotein content, low water)
3. Seromucus (a mixture of both)
• Classified by Route of Secretion
1. Endocrine
2. Exocrine
• Classified by the Number of Cells
1. Unicellular – Goblet cells
2. Multicellular (most common and most abundant)

Endocrine Glands
• Often called ductless glands
• Produces hormones
• Secretes directly into the blood
• Don’t worry – more to come next semester 

Exocrine Glands
• More numerous than endocrine glands
• Secretes products through a duct into body surfaces or cavities
• Includes: mucous, sweat, oil (sebaceous), salivary glands, the liver (secretes bile), the pancreas
(digestive enzymes), and many others

Structural Types of Exocrine Glands

1. Simple tubular
2. Simple branched tubular
3. Simple alveolar (small flask-liked sacs [alveolus = small hollow cavity])
4. Simple branched alveolar
5. Compound tubular
6. Compound alveolar
7. Compound tubuloalveolar
*Note: the term acinar = berry-like, is often used interchangeably with alveolar

Unicellular Exocrine Glands

1. Single-cell
2. Have no ducts
3. Produces mucin (a complex glycoprotein)
4. Once dissolved, mucin forms mucus
5. Functions
a. Lubricate

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 b. Protects
6. Example: goblet cells

Methods of Multicellular Exocrine Secretion

1. Merocrine
2. Holocrine
3. Apocrine
A. Merocrine
1. Secretes their products by exocytosis as they are produced
2. Secretory cells morphology are not altered in any way
3. Pancreas, most sweat glands, and salivary glands secrete in this fashion

B. Holocrine
1. Secretion accumulates
2. The cell ruptures expelling its secretions
3. The underlying cells replicate via mitosis and replace the ruptured cells
4. Think of the cells “dying for their causes”
5. Sebaceous glands (oil) of the skin are the only true holocrine glands

C. Apocrine
1. Secretion accumulates at the apex of the cell
2. The apex pinches off releasing its secretion
3. The cell repairs the damage and the process is repeated

Connective Tissue
• Connects body parts found throughout the body
• Most abundant and widely distributed
• Distribution % depends on specific organ (skin has abundant connective tissue, whereas the brain
contains little)
• Functions
1. Support
2. Protection (physical & immunological)
3. Insulation (heat production)
4. Transportation
5. Storage
6. Binding of organs
• Properties
1. All connective tissues arise from mesenchyme, an embryonic tissue derived from the
mesoderm
2. Connective tissue has varying degrees of vascularity
a. Epithelium = avascular
b. Muscle and nervous tissues = highly vascularized
c. Connective tissues = run the entire gamut of vascularity
d. Examples: cartilage (avascular), dense connective tissue (poorly vascularized)
3. Has an extracellular matrix
a. Able to bear the weight
b. Withstand great tension
c. Endure abuses (physical trauma, abrasion)
• Structural elements
1. Ground substances

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 2. Fibers
3. Cells

Structural Elements

Ground Substances
• Amorphous (unstructured)
• Fills spaces between cells and contains fibers
• Composed of
1. Cell adhesion proteins
2. Proteoglycans
• Function
1. Holds fluid
2. Molecular sieve

Fibers
• Provides support
• Three types of fibers
1. Collagen
a. Most abundant
b. Protein = collagen
c. Triple helix structure
d. Extremely tough and provides high tensile strength
e. Sometimes called white fibers
2. Elastic
a. Protein = elastin
b. Randomly coiled
c. Allows stretching and recoiling (gives the tissue a rubbery or resilient quality)
d. Found in the skin, lungs, blood vessel walls
e. Sometimes called yellow fibers
3. Reticular
a. Fine collagenous fibers that are continuous with collagen fibers
b. Branch extensively to form a delicate network
c. Surrounds small blood vessels
d. Supports soft tissue of organs

Cells
1. Fibroblast
2. Chondroblast
3. Osteoblast
4. Hematopoietic stem cells
5. Fat cells (adipocytes)
6. White blood cells (neutrophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes)
7. Mast cells – have vesicles containing heparin and histamine
8. Macrophages

Types of Connective Tissue

1. Embryonic connective tissue
2. Loose connective tissue
a. Areolar connective tissue

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 b. Adipose tissue
c. Reticular tissue
3. Dense connective tissue
a. Dense regular
b. Dense irregular
4. Cartilage
a. Hyaline
b. Elastic
c. Fibrocartilage
5. Bone (osseous tissue)
6. Blood

Embryonic Connective Tissue

A. Mesenchyme
• Description
1. Gel-like ground substance
2. Has star-shaped mesenchymal cells
• Location: embryo
• Function: gives rise to all other connective tissue types

Loose Connective Tissue

A. Areolar Connective Tissue
• Description
1. Gel-like matrix
2. Has all three fiber types: collagen, elastic, reticular
3. Cells include fibroblasts, macrophages, mast cells, and some white blood cells
• Location
1. Widely distributed under epithelia (attaches skin to underlying tissue)
2. Forms lamina propia of the mucus membrane
3. Packages organs
4. Surrounds capillaries
• Function
1. Wraps and cushions organs
2. Macrophages phagocytize bacteria
3. Role in inflammation
4. Holds and conveys tissue fluid
B. Adipose Tissue (Adipocyte)
• Description
1. Sparse matrix
2. Closely packaged
3. Nucleus pushed to the side by large fat droplet – think of a signet ring
• Location
1. Under skin
2. Around kidneys
3. Around the eyeballs
4. Bones
5. Abdomen
6. Breasts
• Function
1. Provides reserve fuel

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 2. Insulates against heat loss
3. Supports and protects organs

C. Reticular Connective Tissue

• Description
1. A network of reticular fibers
2. Loose ground substances
• Location: lymphoid organs (lymph nodes, bone marrow, and spleen)
• Function: forms a soft internal skeleton that supports other cell types

Dense Connective Tissue

A. Dense Regular Connective Tissue
• Description
1. Collagen fibers lying parallel to each other
2. Few elastin fibers
3. Major cell type = fibroblast
• Location
1. Tendons
2. Most ligaments
3. Aponeuroses
• Function
1. Attaches muscles to bones
2. Attaches bones to bones
3. Withstand great tensile strength when pulled in one direction

B. Dense Irregular Connective Tissue

• Description
1. Collagen fibers arranged in an irregular manner
2. Some elastic fibers
3. Major cell type = fibroblast
• Location
1. Dermis of skin
2. The submucosa of the digestive tract
3. Fibrous capsule of joints and organs
• Function
1. Provides structural strength
2. Withstands tension exerted in any directions

Cartilage
A. Hyaline Cartilage
• Description
1. Amorphous but firm matrix
2. Collagen fibers form an imperceptible network
3. Chondroblasts produce the matrix
4. Once mature, chondroblasts become chondrocytes and lie in lacunae
• Location
1. Forms most of the embryonic skeleton
2. Covers the ends of long bones in joint cavities
3. Forms costal cartilages of the ribs, nose, trachea, and larynx

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• Function
1. Supports and reinforces
2. Has resilient cushioning properties and resists compressive stress
3. Involved in bone growth

B. Elastic Cartilage
• Description
1. Similar to hyaline cartilage but has a higher ratio of elastic fibers in the matrix
• Location
1. External ears
2. Epiglottis
• Function
1. Maintains shape and allows great flexibility

C. Fibrocartilage
• Description
1. Matrix similar but less firm than hyaline cartilage with thick collagen fibers predominating
2. Ground substance = proteoglycan
• Location
1. Intervertebral discs
2. Pubic symphysis
3. Discs of knee joints
• Function
1. Tensile strength with the ability to absorb compressive shock

Bone
 Bone tissue = osseous tissue
 Description
1. Hard
2. Calcified matrix with numerous collagen fibers
3. Osteocytes lie in lacunae
4. Highly vascularized
 Location
1. Bone (wow-never knew!)
 Function
1. Supports and protects
2. Provides levers for muscles to act
3. Stores calcium, fat, and other minerals
4. Blood cell formation (in the bone marrow)

Blood
 Description
1. Matrix = plasma
2. Red and white blood cells and platelets in plasma
 Location
1. Contained within blood vessels
 Function
1. Transports (gases, nutrients, wastes, and other substances, i.e., hormones)

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Muscle Tissue
A. Skeletal Muscle
 Description
1. Long, cylindrical, multinucleated cells
2. Nuclei are located peripherally and are abundant
3. Obvious striations
 Location
1. Attached to bones or skin
 Function
1. Voluntary movement, locomotion, manipulation, expression
2. Under voluntary control
B. Cardiac Muscle
 Description
1. Branching
2. Striation
3. Uninucleated
4. Intercalated discs
 Location
1. Walls of the heart
 Function
1. Propels blood into the circulation
2. Under involuntary control
C. Smooth Muscle
 Description:
1. Spindle-shaped with central nuclei
2. Forms sheets
3. Non-striated
 Location
1. Mostly in the walls of hollow organs (GI, blood vessels)
 Function
1. Propels substances
2. Under involuntary control

Neuron
• the basic functioning/structural unit of the nervous system
• conduct nerve impulses
• extreme longevity
• amitotic
• high metabolic rate
• has three functional components
1. receptive (input)
2. conductive
3. secretory (output)

The Prototypic neuron and its parts

Soma (somata) - cell body – perikaryon
Axon - conducts information from this neuron to next neuron
• Efferent - axon going away from reference neuron
• Afferent - axon coming toward reference neuron
• Runs from axon hillock at the soma to the axon terminal arbor

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Dendrites: receivers

Neuroglia (Glial cells): are non-neural (supporting) cells that function is support and separate neurons
and to provide a supporting framework
• Broken into 6 types of supporting cells between the CNS and PNS:
• CNS: macroglia (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes), microglia, and ependymal cells
• PNS: Schwann cells and satellite cells

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