Connective Tissue Flashcards
(109 cards)
T or F: Leukocytes from the blood become active once in the CT
T
What are the four functions of CT?
Structural support, medium for exchange, aid in defense and protection of the body, and site of fat storage.
Embryonic CT is composed of what?
Mesenchyme (mostly fibroblasts, source of progenitor cells), mucous CT which sits below the surface of skin and helps in cell development. Wharton’s Jelly, a very watery fluid in the umbilical cord
What is CT mesenchyme?
Mostly fibroblasts and the source of CT progenitor cells
What are the five types of CT proper?
Loose (areolar), Dense irregular, Dense regular, Reticular, and Adipose
How is CT proper type defined?
The density of connective tissue fibers
What are specialized CT?
Cartilage, bone, blood (hemopoietic and lymphatic tissue)
Where is dense irregular CT found?
Dermis of skin, sheaths of nerve, capsules of spleen, kidney, lymph nodes, testes, and ovaries
Where is dense regular CT found?
Tendons and ligaments
Where is loose irregular CT found?
Fills spaces just deep to skin, mesothelial lining of body cavity, blood vessels adventitia, surrounds parenchyma of glands, lamina propria of GI tract
What are the two general components of CT organization?
ECM and cells
What composes the ECM of CT?
Ground substance (no stain) and fibers (synthesized by fibroblasts)
What are the two types of CT cells?
Fixed/Resident (fibroblasts and adipocytes) and Transient/wandering (Macrophages of plasma cells that come from elsewhere e.g. blood)
What are the three major components of the ground substance?
Glycosaminoglycans, Proteoglycans, Glycoproteins
T or F: The fibers in the ground substance are visible in LM
F
What are GAGs?
Polysaccharides of repeating disaccharide subunits
What type of GAGs are in the CT ground substance?
Sulfated…e.g. keratin, chondroitin, and dermatan sulfate and unsulfated…e.g. hyaluronic acid
What is the function of GAGs in the CT ground substance?
Attracts water and resists compression (attracts water via its negative charge by attracting sodium)
What is the function of hyaluronic acid in the ground substance of CT?
Long chain, very large to make backbones for proteoglycan attachement, non-sulfated
What are proteoglycans?
Protein core with covalently bound sulfated GAGs
What is the function of PG in the CT ground substance?
Important for binding and activation of growth factors
What type of glycoproteins are in the ground substance of CT?
Fibronectin, laminin, and entactin
What is the function of glycoprotein in the ground substance of CT?
Contains domains for the components of ECM and integrins to bind, important for transport
What are the three types of CT fibers?
Collagen, reticular, elastic