Characteristics: Mostly have a good blood supply, cells are farther apart than epithelial cells, extracellular matrix in between.
Muscle Tissue
Function: Movement
Location: Attached to bones, in walls of internal organs, heart
Characteristics: Able to contract in response to specific stimuli.
Nervous Tissue
Function: Conduct impulses for coordination, regulation, integration, and sensory reception.
Location: Brain, spinal cord, nerves
Characteristics: Cells communicate with each other and other body parts. Ex: Muscles
Epithelium
Location: Covers all free body surfaces, forms the inner lining of body cavities, lines hollow organs, major tissues of glands
The Basement Membrane anchors epithelium to connective tissue. Cancer cells secrete a substance that dissolves the basement membrane, enabling the cells to invade other layers (mestasis)
Cancer cells also produce fewer adhesion proteins (help cells "stick" together) which allows them to spread into surrounding tissues.
Connective Tissue
Characteristics: Connects, supports, protects, provides frameworks, fill spaces, stores fat, produces blood cells, protects against infection, and helps repair damaged tissues.
Major Cell Types
Fibroblasts produce collagen and elastic fibers.
Macrophages are phagocytes ("eat cells")
Mast cells may release heparin and histamine
Connective Tissue Fibers
Collagen fibers have a great tensile strength
Elastic fibers are composed of elastin and are stretchy
Reticular fibers are fine collagen fibers
Usually have an extracellular matrix in b/w.
This matrix consists of fibers and a ground substance (gel-like material)
Categories of Connective Tissue
Connective Tissue Proper Includes
Loose Connective Tissue
Areolar: Forms thin membranes b/w organs and binds them together. Found beneath the skin and surrounds organs.
Adipose: Stores fat, cushions, and insulates. Found beneath the skin; in certain abdominal membranes; and around the kidneys, heart, and various joints.
Reticular: Thin branched reticular fibers. Supports the walls of the liver and spleen.
Dense Connective Tissue
Dense Regular: Strong collagen fibers that bind structures as parts of tendons and ligaments.
Dense Irregular: Thicker, randomly distributed collagen fibers and is found in the dermis.
Elastic: Elastic fibers that make up hollow internal organs like lungs and blood vessels.
Specialized Connective Tissue Includes
Cartilage: Provides support. Consists of fibers and a gel like sub. Lacks a direct blood supply. So it is slow to heal.
Bone: Matrix consists of mineral salts and collagen. Compact and spongy bones; heals rapidly.
Blood: Composed of cells suspended in fluid. Produced in the tissues of hollow parts of certain bones.
Muscle Tissue
Muscle Tissue contracts, moving structures attached to it.
Muscle Cells are also called muscle fibers
Skeletal muscle makes up about 40% of body weight and smooth and cardiac muscle makes up about 10%.
3 Types of Muscle Tissue
Skeletal
Function: Movement of body parts, facial expressions, writing, talking, signing, chewing, swallowing, and breathing.
Muscles that contain skeletal muscle tissue are usually attached to bones.
These musc. can be controlled consciously->nalso called volume muscle tissue.
The cells are long, about 40 mm in length and and threadlike, less than .1 mm in width
The cell has many nuclei: multinucleate.
The cells contain striations: alternating dark and light cross markings.
The muscle cells contract when stimulated by a nerve cell, then relaxes when it is no longer stimulated.
Smooth Muscle
Considered "smooth" bc it contains no striations.
The cells are shorter than skeletal muscle cells and are spindled shaped
Each cell contains one central nucleus.
Found in the walls of internal hollow organs: stomach, intestines, bladder, uterus, blood vessels
They are under involuntary control: moves food through digestive tract, constricts blood vessels, and empties the bladder.
Cardiac Muscle
Found only in the heart.
The cells are striated, branched, joined end to end, and interconnected in a complex. network.
Specialized intercellular junctions: the connection b/w cardiac muscle cells: called intercalated disc
Under involuntary control.
Pumps blood through the chambers of the heart and into blood vessels.
Can cont. to function without nervous stimulation.
Nervous Tissue
Found in the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves.
Basic cells called neurons and are very specialized.
Neurons sense cert. types of changes in the surr.
Neurons have dendrites which receive sensory info and transmit messages as an electrical signal to the axon. The axon sends the message to the next neuron or to muscles or glands.
Neuroglia Cell
Supp. cells of the nervous tissue.
Some of them bind and supp. nerv. tissue, and carry out phagocytosis ("eat cells")
Helps protect nervous tissue by engulfing cellular debris, waste, and foreign material.