Connective Tissues Overview (Grade A)

Summary:

Connective tissues play a multifaceted role in the human body. Areolar tissue, found in ventral body cavities and between skin layers, offers support and looks like straight sticks, while adipose tissue, resembling popcorn, is primarily located in deep skin regions, providing fat storage. Reticular tissue, resembling a spider’s web, supports organs like the liver and spleen. Cartilage types include hyaline, which supports the ribs and trachea, elastic found in the ear and larynx, and fibrocartilage in knee joints and discs, which absorbs shock and looks like melted wax. Muscle tissues, vital for movement, come in three types: skeletal, found attached to bones; cardiac in the heart; and smooth in organs like the stomach. Dense tissue provides firm attachment and strength, with regular found in tendons, irregular in the skin’s dermis, and elastic in blood vessel walls.

Excerpt:

Connective Tissues Overview

Loose

Areolar
● Location: Ventral body cavities (thoracic and abdo-pelvic), between layers of skin
● Function: Support
● Looks like straight sticks

Adipose
● Location: Deep skin, butt, breasts, padding around eyeballs and kidneys
● Function: Storage (of fat)
● Looks like popcorn

Reticular
● Location: Liver, kidney, spleen, lymph nodes, bone marrow
● Function: Support
● Looks like a spider web
● “Framework” of a house

Cartilage

Hyaline
● Location: Tips of ribs to sternum, trachea, larynx, bronchi, nasal septum
● Function: Support
● Looks like loose; the differentiation is that there are NO fibres
● Babies are born with this

Elastic
● Location: Ear, epiglottis, larynx
● Function: Support
● Looks like black-eye peas, thin black strings

Fibrocartilage
● Location: Pads between knee joints, pubic bones, and discs in the spine
● Function: Absorption
● Looks like melted candle wax, thick wires almost, eyeball

Muscle

Skeletal
● Location: Skeletal muscles
● Function: Movement, support, generates heat
● Looks thin, long, and striated with little cells

Cardiac
● Location: Heart
● Function: Circulates blood
● The little velcro thing is an intercalated disc (this is how you tell it’s cardiac)

Smooth
● Location: Internal organs, stomach, bladder, uterus
● Function: Helps move things
● Looks like dense regular, but will differentiate on the test (muscle=smooth, connective=dense regular)
● No striations, tapers off