1. Bringing Us All Together!
Connective Tissue
Bringing Us All Together!

2. Introduction
Understanding our next type of tissue is a challenge because it is composed of many different things
For us to grasp the aspects of connective tissue, we have to imagine it much like a good bowl of gumbo

3. Introduction I am not normally one for soup…
A good bowl of seafood gumbo is one of my favorite meals
It is created from many different ingredients coming together to make a thick and rich stew that has one defined flavor
A good bowl of gumbo is a defined meal made of many different parts

4. Connective Tissue
Connective tissues vary wildly in appearance and function, however they all contain three basic things
Specialized cells
Extracellular protein fibers
A fluid (ground substance)
These three things can be found throughout the body performing different functions

5. Connective Tissue
When we talk about the combination of extracellular fibers and ground substance together, it is referred to as the matrix
The matrix makes up the large part of most connective tissues
This is different than epithelium where cells make up the majority of the tissue

6. Types of Connective Tissue
There are three different types of connective tissue that are in the body
These three different types of connective tissue can be found in different parts of the body
They all have wildly different functions and properties

7. Types of Connective Tissue
Connective tissue proper contains tissues with many different cells and extracellular fibers in a syrupy ground substance
This is a very broad category that includes two main categories
Loose connective tissue has few supporting fibers
Dense connective tissue has many supporting fibers

8. Types of Connective Tissue
Loose connective tissue contains tissues such as adipose tissue
Adipose tissue is commonly referred to as fat
It is commonly used as a long term storage mechanism
It has very loose groupings of fibers to create a very loosely bound substance

9. Video Liposuction Surgery… Kinda gross Not for everyone…
h?v=xLu-nbFaRW4

10. Types of Connective Tissue
Dense connective tissue has a larger number of fibers that make up the matrix
Tendons and ligaments are examples of dense connective tissue
They are tough parts of the body that have a strong and connection with other parts of the body

11. Video Ok… this is actual surgery
Please do not watch if you do not want to
There will be cutting into skin, blood and stitching of broken parts
You have been warned…
h?v=hP2medWpDLE

12. Types of Connective Tissue
Fluid connective tissues have a distinctive population of cells and dissolved proteins within a watery ground substance
This type of connective tissue is circulated around the body
There are only two main types
Blood tissue
Lymph tissue

13. Types of Connective Tissue
Supporting connective tissues are tissues that have fewer cells and more supporting fibers
Supporting connective tissues can either help protect parts of the body or support parts of the body
The two main types are
Cartilage
Bone

14. Connective Tissue Proper
Connective tissue proper can be compared to retired/elderly people from New Jersey
Other than being important members of our community… what do they do in the winter?
Their migration is similar to connective tissue proper
Some retired/elderly people travel to their winter home down south
While many of them stay in New Jersey to be near their families

15. Connective Tissue Proper
Permanent residents are cells that do not migrate around the body
They are locked in location and often deal with energy storage and local maintenance
Migratory cells move around the body
These cells will respond to issues in different tissues around the body

16. Connective Tissue Proper
There are several different types of permanent residents
Fibroblasts numerous in the body and are the only cells always present in connective tissue proper
They secrete the proteins that and carbohydrates that create the ground substance and the extracellular protein fibers

17. Connective Tissue Proper
Fibrocytes are responsible for maintaining the extracellular fibers of connective tissue proper
Adipocytes (fat cells) are composed of a large droplet of fat and all other organelles pushed off to the side
They are used for the long term storage of energy
Mast cells are located near blood vessels and release histamine

18. Connective Tissue Proper
Mesenchymal cells are local stem cells that can create fibroblasts, macrophages or other connective tissue cells
Melanocytes store the pigment melanin, which helps protect against radiation

19. Connective Tissue Proper
Lymphocytes migrate throughout the body defending the body against disease
Macrophages are large amoeboid cells that engulf damaged cells or pathogens that are in the tissues
Macro – Large
Phage – Eat or Consume

20. Dense Connective Tissue
In dense regular connective tissue the fibers are parallel to each other and are allied to the forces being applied to each other
Tendons connect skeletal muscles to bone
Ligaments connect bones together or stabilize organs

21. Dense Connective Tissue
Dense irregular connective tissue has an interwoven network of fibers
Often will strengthen and support an area that receives forces from all directions
This is found in the skin
Leather is an excellent example

22. Fluid Connective Tissue
The fluid connective tissues are two varied categories that travel around the body
The main goal for these two tissues is to travel through the different tissues of the body and try to access different parts of the body to do their job
The jobs that they do are different, but very important to the well being of the organism

23. Fluid Connective Tissue
Blood is a tissue that is composed of all three elements of connective tissue
Plasma is a watery matrix that is made of protein and fluid
Inside of the plasma there are a large collection of cells and fragments of cells called formed units

24. Fluid Connective Tissue
Red blood cells are cells that carry oxygen around the body with the help of hemoglobin
Red blood cells make up around 25% of the cells in your body
White blood cells come in three major groups and act defenders of infection and disease
Platelets are cell fragments that are involved in clotting responce

25. Fluid Connective Tissue
Lymph is a type of fluid that forms as fluid enters lymphatic vessels
Cells from the immune system monitor the lymph for signs of infection, differences in nutrient levels and detects levels of toxins
If the lymph is deemed “clean” it is returned to the blood stream

26. Supporting Connective Tissues
Supporting connective tissues are tissues that provide a strong framework for the body
They ensure that the entire body is able to support it’s own weight, protect itself from harm and have an anchoring structure
These are often related to the skeletal system

27. Supporting Connective Tissues
Cartilage is a tough supportive connective tissue that provides a variety of functions throughout the body
It can be used to connect two different bones
It can also be used to protect parts of the body
Finally it can provide support and structure to the framework of the body

28. Supporting Connective Tissues
Cartilage has a matrix of a thick gel that contains dissolved proteins
The specialized cells are called chondrocytes
Depending on the type of chondrocytes that are in the cartilage, the tissue will take on different properties
This accounts for the differences that you see in different types of cartilage

29. Supporting Connective Tissues
There are three main types of cartilage
Hyaline cartilage is a tough and somewhat flexible cartilage that is found in the sternum, nose and cushions the knee
Elastic cartilage contains many elastic fibers and allows it to bend in the ear and epiglottis
Fibrocartilage has little ground substance and can protect against bone to bone contact in the spine and the pelvis

30. Osseous Tissue The second connective tissue is osseous tissue
Osseous tissue (bone) is a connective tissue with very small amounts of ground substance and contains a large amount of calcium salts
The rest of osseous tissue is composed of collagen fibers

31. Osseous Tissue Bone’s matrix is composed of over 60% calcium salts
These salts have a hard but brittle quality that provides a base substance for strong and flexible collagen fibers
The most major is calcium phosphate
The other major calcium salt is calcium carbonate

32. Osseous Tissue
Since there is a hard and supportive substance that is locked together with a strong flexible substance, bone is a very supportive and tough tissue
It makes a flexible substance that is resistant to shattering
It gives bone the properties of reinforced concrete