What makes up fibrous connective tissue

It is a tool designed to identify ICOI members in geographic areas. ICOI members are generated randomly when a search is performed and are not listed according to how long they have been members or their experience or competency. Illegal or unauthorized use of this list will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Fa Fe Fi. Fib Fid Fin Fis Fix. Sharks have cartilaginous skeletons, as does nearly the entire human skeleton during some pre-birth developmental stages.

A remnant of this cartilage persists in the outer portion of the human nose. Hyaline cartilage is also found at the ends of long bones, reducing friction and cushioning the articulations of these bones. Elastic cartilage has a large amount of elastic fibers, giving it tremendous flexibility. The ears of most vertebrate animals contain this cartilage, as do portions of the larynx, or voice box.

In contrast, fibrocartilage contains a large amount of collagen fibers, giving the tissue tremendous strength. Fibrocartilage comprises the intervertebral discs in vertebrate animals, which must withstand a tremendous amount of stress.

Cartilage can also transform from one type to another. For example, hyaline cartilage found in movable joints, such as the knee and shoulder, often becomes damaged as a result of age or trauma. Learning Objectives Distinguish between the different types of connective tissue. Key Points Fibroblasts are cells that generate any connective tissue that the body needs, as they can move throughout the body and can undergo mitosis to create new tissues.

Protein fibers run throughout connective tissue, providing stability and support; they can be either collagen, elastic, or reticular fibers. Loose connective tissue is not particularly tough, but surrounds blood vessels and provides support to internal organs. This is a factor contributing to the very slow healing of cartilaginous tissues.

The three main types of cartilage tissue are hyaline cartilage, fibrocartilage, and elastic cartilage Figure 4. Hyaline cartilage , the most common type of cartilage in the body, consists of short and dispersed collagen fibers and contains large amounts of proteoglycans.

Under the microscope, tissue samples appear clear. The surface of hyaline cartilage is smooth. Both strong and flexible, it is found in the rib cage and nose and covers bones where they meet to form moveable joints. It makes up a template of the embryonic skeleton before bone formation.

A plate of hyaline cartilage at the ends of bone allows continued growth until adulthood. Fibrocartilage is tough because it has thick bundles of collagen fibers dispersed through its matrix. The knee and jaw joints and the the intervertebral discs are examples of fibrocartilage.

Elastic cartilage contains elastic fibers as well as collagen and proteoglycans. This tissue gives rigid support as well as elasticity. Tug gently at your ear lobes, and notice that the lobes return to their initial shape.

The external ear contains elastic cartilage. Bone is the hardest connective tissue. It provides protection to internal organs and supports the body. Both components of the matrix, organic and inorganic, contribute to the unusual properties of bone. Without collagen, bones would be brittle and shatter easily.

Without mineral crystals, bones would flex and provide little support. Osteocytes , bone cells, are located within lacunae. The histology of transverse tissue from long bone shows a typical arrangement of osteocytes in concentric circles around a central canal Figure 4.

Bone is a highly vascularized tissue. Unlike cartilage, bone tissue can recover from injuries in a relatively short time. Cancellous bone looks like a sponge under the microscope and contains empty spaces between trabeculae, or arches of bone proper.

It is lighter than compact bone and found in the interior of some bones and at the end of long bones. Compact bone is solid and has greater structural strength. Blood is a fluid connective tissues. These combine to form a proteoglycan with a protein core and polysaccharide branches. The proteoglycan attracts and traps available moisture forming the clear, viscous, colorless matrix you now know as ground substance.

Loose connective tissue is found between many organs where it acts both to absorb shock and bind tissues together. It allows water, salts, and various nutrients to diffuse through to adjacent or imbedded cells and tissues.

Adipose tissue consists mostly of fat storage cells, with little extracellular matrix Figure. A large number of capillaries allow rapid storage and mobilization of lipid molecules. White adipose tissue is most abundant. It can appear yellow and owes its color to carotene and related pigments from plant food. White fat contributes mostly to lipid storage and can serve as insulation from cold temperatures and mechanical injuries. White adipose tissue can be found protecting the kidneys and cushioning the back of the eye.

The many mitochondria in the cytoplasm of brown adipose tissue help explain its efficiency at metabolizing stored fat. Brown adipose tissue is thermogenic, meaning that as it breaks down fats, it releases metabolic heat, rather than producing adenosine triphosphate ATP , a key molecule used in metabolism.

Areolar tissue shows little specialization. It contains all the cell types and fibers previously described and is distributed in a random, web-like fashion. It fills the spaces between muscle fibers, surrounds blood and lymph vessels, and supports organs in the abdominal cavity.

Areolar tissue underlies most epithelia and represents the connective tissue component of epithelial membranes, which are described further in a later section. Reticular tissue is a mesh-like, supportive framework for soft organs such as lymphatic tissue, the spleen, and the liver Figure.

Reticular cells produce the reticular fibers that form the network onto which other cells attach. Dense Connective Tissue Dense connective tissue contains more collagen fibers than does loose connective tissue.

As a consequence, it displays greater resistance to stretching. There are two major categories of dense connective tissue: regular and irregular. Dense regular connective tissue fibers are parallel to each other, enhancing tensile strength and resistance to stretching in the direction of the fiber orientations. Ligaments and tendons are made of dense regular connective tissue, but in ligaments not all fibers are parallel.

Dense regular elastic tissue contains elastin fibers in addition to collagen fibers, which allows the ligament to return to its original length after stretching.

The ligaments in the vocal folds and between the vertebrae in the vertebral column are elastic. In dense irregular connective tissue, the direction of fibers is random. This arrangement gives the tissue greater strength in all directions and less strength in one particular direction. In some tissues, fibers crisscross and form a mesh. In other tissues, stretching in several directions is achieved by alternating layers where fibers run in the same orientation in each layer, and it is the layers themselves that are stacked at an angle.

The dermis of the skin is an example of dense irregular connective tissue rich in collagen fibers. Dense irregular elastic tissues give arterial walls the strength and the ability to regain original shape after stretching Figure. Disorders of the… Connective Tissue: Tendinitis Your opponent stands ready as you prepare to hit the serve, but you are confident that you will smash the ball past your opponent.

As you toss the ball high in the air, a burning pain shoots across your wrist and you drop the tennis racket. That dull ache in the wrist that you ignored through the summer is now an unbearable pain. The game is over for now. After examining your swollen wrist, the doctor in the emergency room announces that you have developed wrist tendinitis.

She recommends icing the tender area, taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication to ease the pain and to reduce swelling, and complete rest for a few weeks. She interrupts your protests that you cannot stop playing. She issues a stern warning about the risk of aggravating the condition and the possibility of surgery. She consoles you by mentioning that well known tennis players such as Venus and Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal have also suffered from tendinitis related injuries.

What is tendinitis and how did it happen? Tendinitis is the inflammation of a tendon, the thick band of fibrous connective tissue that attaches a muscle to a bone.

The condition causes pain and tenderness in the area around a joint. On rare occasions, a sudden serious injury will cause tendinitis. Most often, the condition results from repetitive motions over time that strain the tendons needed to perform the tasks. Persons whose jobs and hobbies involve performing the same movements over and over again are often at the greatest risk of tendinitis.

In all cases, overuse of the joint causes a microtrauma that initiates the inflammatory response. Tendinitis is routinely diagnosed through a clinical examination. In case of severe pain, X-rays can be examined to rule out the possibility of a bone injury. Severe cases of tendinitis can even tear loose a tendon. Surgical repair of a tendon is painful.

Connective tissue in the tendon does not have abundant blood supply and heals slowly. While older adults are at risk for tendinitis because the elasticity of tendon tissue decreases with age, active people of all ages can develop tendinitis.

Young athletes, dancers, and computer operators; anyone who performs the same movements constantly is at risk for tendinitis. Although repetitive motions are unavoidable in many activities and may lead to tendinitis, precautions can be taken that can lessen the probability of developing tendinitis. For active individuals, stretches before exercising and cross training or changing exercises are recommended. For the passionate athlete, it may be time to take some lessons to improve technique.

All of the preventive measures aim to increase the strength of the tendon and decrease the stress put on it. With proper rest and managed care, you will be back on the court to hit that slice-spin serve over the net. Watch this animation to learn more about tendonitis, a painful condition caused by swollen or injured tendons. Two major forms of supportive connective tissue, cartilage and bone, allow the body to maintain its posture and protect internal organs.