Connective Tissue Proper (pathways)

First what is connective tissue proper?

One of the main categories of connective tissue, packing, binding, and supporting tissue.

Has Two main types of connective tissue proper, each with 3 different types with 6 in total. (add)

What is Loose CT, one of the two pathways of CT proper?

Soft, Flexible, few fibers with lots of ground substance or space

Like the name itself, loose, not very dense

Analogy: cotton padding

Location: squishy places like bone marrow, organs, fat, eyes, etc

What is Dense CT, the second pathway of CT proper?

Little Ground substance

Strong, tough, like the name, dense

Analogy: Ropes

Location: Tendons, Ligaments, Dermis, joints, organs, arteries

Areolar Loose connective tissue function

Wraps and cushions organs; macrophages (WBC) phagocytize (eat) bacteria

It plays an important role in inflammation and it holds and conveys tissue fluid

Location: Epithelia (any tissue that lines the or covers surfaces of the body) packages organs,

Forms lamina propria (thin layer of connective tissue) of mucous membranes

Adipose CT Loose function and location

Located in the skin of the hypodermis, around kidneys and eyeballs, within abdomen, in breasts

Provides reserve food fuel, and insulates against heat loss; supports and protects organs

Essentially the fat storages (long term)

Reticular Connective Tissue proper (F&L)

Forms a soft internal skeleton (stroma) (The cells and tissues that support and give structure to organs, glands, or other tissues in the body. The stroma is mostly made up of connective tissue, blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and nerves)

that supports other cell types including white blood cells (attacks), mast cells (applies debuffs, inflammatory), and macrophages (engulfs bacteria, erase traces, helps tissue repair)

Dense irregular CT (F&L)

Withstands tension exerted in MANY DIRECTIONS; provides structural strength

Is the reason why your hand skin can stretch in any direction fine

Fibrous capsules of organs and joints

Dermis of skin

Submucosa (thick inner connective layer of digestive)

Dense regular CT (F&L)

Attaches muscles to bones or to muscles

attaches bones to bones

withstands great tensile stretch when pull is applied in ONE DIRECTION

because of this, your arms will break if pulled in the wrong direction

Tendons

most ligaments

aponeuroses

Dense Elastic CT (F&L)

allows recoil for tissue following stretching (twisting bending stretching, throwing)

Maintains pulsatile flow of blood through arteries (blood flows in pulses and waves synced with the heartbeat, not in a wave)

Aids passive recoil of lungs following inspiration (inhalation)

Found in walls of large arteries

certain ligaments associated with the vertebral column (spine)

Within the walls of the bronchial tubes (lungs)