SEMINAR

ON
CONNECTIVE TISSUE

DR.GOWRI ARUN
P.G. STUDENT
V.S.D.C.H
 Contents
• Introduction
• Origin
• Difference between epithelium & connective tissue
• Types of connective tissue
• Staining of connective tissue
• Composition Of Connective Tissue
Cellular Components
Extracellular Matrix
Ground Substance
Fibres
 CONTENTS

• Types of connective tissue

connective tissue proper
connective tissue with special properties
supporting connective tissue
• Collagen
Structure
Types And Classification
Biosynthesis Of Collagen
Uses Of Collagen
• non collagenous proteins
• Ground substance
 CONTENTS

• Gingival Connective Tissue

• Periodontal Connective Tissue
• Cementum
• Alveolar Bone
• Healing
• Conclusion
• Reference
 TISSUE

Defined as collection of specialised cells and cell products

organised to perform a limited number of functions.
• Levels of Organizations
CELL
TISSUES
ORGANS
ORGAN SYSTEMS
ORGANISMS
 FOUR TYPES OF TISSUES

 EPITHELIAL
 CONNECTIVE TISSUE
 MUSCULAR TISSUE
 NERVOUS TISSUE
 CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Connective tissue may be defined as that group of tissues predominantly

composed of intercellular matrix ,secreted mainly by its cells which are
therefore widely spaced.
It is mesodermal in origin and provides structural and metabolic support
for other tissue and organs through out the body.
 EPITHELIUM CONNECTIVE TISSUE

CELLS ARE COMPACTLY ARRANGED LOOSELY ARRANGED

NO INTERCELLULAR SPACE LARGE

HIGHLY REDUCED MATRIX LARGE INTERCELLULAR MATRIX

CELLS REST ON BASEMENT NO BASEMENT MEMBRANE

MEMBRANE

AVASCULAR CONTAINS BLOOD VESSELS

DERIVED FROM 3 GERM LAYERS FROM MESODERM

 COMPOSITION

CELLULAR COMPONENTS

Cells that are intrinsic components of connective tissue

• Fibroblasts
• Undifferentiated mesenchymal cells
• Pigment cells
• Fat cells

Cells that belong to immune system

• macrophages
• lymphocytes
• Mast cell
• Plasma cell
• Monocytes
• eosinophils
 EXTRACELLULAR COMPONENTS

Fibres in connective tissue

• Collagen
• Elastic
• Reticular
Extra cellular matrix
• Collagenous proteins
• Non collagenous proteins
• proteoglycan
 FUNCTIONS OF CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Structural Functions:
• Loose C.T : holds together structures like skin, muscles , blood vessels and
various layers of viscera.

• Areolar & Reticular tissues : Framework that supports cellular elements of

various organs like spleen, lymphnodes, glands and provides capsules for them.
Looseness of areolar tissue facilitates movement between structures
• Superfiscial fascia : enables movement of skin over deep fascia.

• Deep fascia : provides tight covering for deeper structures

• Ligaments : hold bone ends together at joints.

• Tendons : transmit pull of muscles to their origin.

• Defensive role [Macrophages,plasma cells]

• Trophic and morphogenic role : In organising and influencing

the growth and differentiation of surrounding tissues.

• Insulation and transportation [blood] : Adipocytes are used

for cushioning, thermal insulation, lubrication and energy storage.
 STAINING OF CONNECTIVE TISSUE

• Von gieson’s stain

• Masson’s trichrome stain

• Mallory’s aniline blue stain

• Azocarmine stain

• Krajian’s aniline blue stain

 CLASSIFICATION

SPECIAL
C.T PROPER SUPPORTING
PROPERTIES

• LOOSE • ADIPOSE • BONE

• DENSE- • ELASTIC • CARTILAGE
REGULAR • MUCOUS
IRREGULAR • HAEMOPOIETIC
• RETICULAR
TYPES OF CONNECTIVE TISSUE
 LOOSE CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Bundles of loosely arranged fibres appear to enclose large spaces

Gel like matrix with all three fibre types, i.e. collagen, reticular, elastic.
 LOOSE C.T

CELLS : varied cell population

Fibroblasts
Macrophage
Adipocytes
Mesenchymal cells
Melanocytes
Mast cells
Lymphocytes
Microphages

ECM : hyaluronan and proteoglycans

 LOOSE CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Location : widely distributed under epithelia of body.

e.g. Forms lamina propria of mucous membrane;
Packages organs;
Surrounds capillaries.
 LOOSE C.T

Functions :
Wraps and cushions organs
Macrophages phagocytoze bacteria
Plays important role in inflammation
Holds and conveys tissue fluid
 DENSE CONNECTIVE TISSUE

DENSE REGULAR CONNECTIVE TISSUE :

Densely aligned parallel fibers

Major cell type is fibroblast.
Location : Tendons, Ligaments, Aponeuroses

Function : Attaches muscle to bones

Binds bone to bone
Resists tension
DENSE IRREGULAR CONNECTIVE TISSUE :
Location :Dermis of the skin,
Fibrous capsules around organs and joints
Submucosa of digestive tract
Function : Withstand tension exerted in many directions
Provides structural strength
 CONNECTIVE TISSUE WITH SPECIAL
PROPERTIES

ADIPOSE TISSUE :- closely packed adipocytes or fat cells

nuclei pushed to the side by fat droplets

Compromise 15-25% of body tissue

 ADIPOSE TISSUE

Location :
Mostly in superficial fascia
Paniculus adiposus-subcutaneous
Around kidneys
Behind the eyeballs
In bones,abdomen,
On the surface of heart & around joints
 ADIPOSE TISSUE

Types:
Unilocular /white /yellow fat :
single droplet of fat in cytoplasm.
facilitate storage and release of triglycerides

Multilocular or brown fat :

large number of small lipid vescicles
Abundant - newborn &
- hibernating animals
 ADIPOSE TISSUE

Functions :
Cushions joints and some organs like kidneys
Insulates beneath the skin
Stores energy in fat molecules
 RETICULAR TISSUE

Has network of reticular fibers[type-III collagen fibers] in loose ground substance

Differ from type I collagen fiber by
- finer,
-uneven thickness,
- form a network by branching & anastomosing
- argentophillic fibres.
 RETICULAR TISSUE

Location :
Marrow, Spleen, Lymph nodes,
Liver, kidneys, smooth muscle and nerve fibers
Functions :
Supporting network (spleen, lymphnodes, bone marrow)
Basement membane
 ELASTIC TISSUE

• Elastic tissue is yellow in colour

• Elastic fibres are seen in parallel strands or in branching networks
• Collagen fibres & fibroblasts found in between elastic fibers
• Can be stretched
• Highly refractile
 ELASTIC TISSUE

Staining: orcein,
aldehyde fuschin
verheoff’s method
Location:
Eg: ligamentum nuchae
Ligamentum flava
Vocal ligaments
Walls of large arteries
Smaller arteries - internal elastic lamina
 ELASTIC TISSUE

Functions :
• Imparts the strength, extensibility and elastic quality to structures
• Holds the parts together
• Prevents excessive dilatation of blood vessels
 HAEMOPOIETIC

Haemopoietic tissue : Myeloid tissue

Lymphoid tissue

Myeloid tissue
Myeloid tissue is a biological tissue with the ability to perform mainly haematopoesis as
in red bone marrow of bones.
It includes
-Phagocytic and blood forming cells

- plasma and platelets

- liver and spleen.
Lymphoid tissue:  
• Structural organizations concerned with immune response.
• Location : thymus and lymph nodes, spleen.
• Has a cylinder of loosely organized cells surrounding small arteries.
• Most diffuse lymphoid tissue is seen in the loose CT spaces beneath wet
epithelial membranes - GIT & respiratory systems
 SUPPORTING CONNECTIVE TISSUE

CARTILAGE
- Specialized form of connective tissue :
- Form skeletal basis for some parts of the body.

- Avascular & devoid of nerves

Composition
• Cells : chondrocytes
• Matrix : collagenous fibers& ground substance.
• Groundsubstance : Proteins&Carbohydrates
Chondronectin (major adhesion protein)
Chondrotin sulphate
Hyaluronic acid
 CARTILAGE

Functions:
• Tissues to bear mechanical stresses
• Gives support to the soft tissues
• Shock absorbing and sliding area for joints and facilitates bone
movement.
• For the development and growth of long bones before and
after birth
 CARTILAGE

Growth: Occurs by 2 mechanism,

Interstitial growth : initial phase of cartilage formation.
- Chondroblasts within the cartilage divide & secrete
matrix
-growth occurs from within the cartilage.

Appositional growth :Chondroblasts - deep to the perichondrium deposit new matrix

–on surface of exisiting cartilage str.

Both the growth processes continue until the bony skeleton stops growing at the
end of adolescence
 TYPES OF CARTILAGE

• Hyaline cartilage
• Elastic cartilage

• Fibrocartilage
HYALINE CARTILAGE

• Most abundant type

• Bluish-white and translucent
• In embryo, serves as the temporary skeleton
 HYALINE CARTILAGE

• Location :
• Covers the ends of long bones - articular cartilage,
• Tip of the nose
• Connects the ribs to the sternum
• Forms laryngeal cartilages- thyroid, cricoid and arytenoid
• Supporting cartilages of the trachea and bronchial tubes
• Persists during childhood as the epiphyseal plates
• Matrix
• 40% of dry wt. – collagen(type II )
• embedded in a firm, hydrated gel of proteoglycans & glycoproteins.

• Proteoglycans : chondroitin 4-sulfate, chondroitin 6-sulfate, & keratan

sulfate, covalently linked to core proteins.

• Structural glycoprotein: chondronectin

 ELASTIC CARTILAGE

ELASTIC [yellow fibrocartilage]

• Contains abundant fine elastic fibers
• Collagen type II fibers.
• Fresh elastic cartilage –yellowish in color - elastin in fibers
• Covered by perichondrium
 ELASTIC CARTILAGE

Location :
• Auricle of the ear
• Lateral part of external auditory canal
• Auditory (eustachian)tubes-wall of medial part
• Epiglottis
• Cuneiform & corniculate cartilage in the larynx

Function :
• Provides support
• Tolerates distortion without damage and returns to original support
 FIBROUS CARTILAGE

• Dense white fibrous tissue having cartilage cells surrounded by capsule

• Has no perichondrium
• Has great tensile strength with considerable elasticity.
• Rows of chondrocytes alternating with rows of thick collagen fibers
[TYPE-I]
 FIBROUS CARTILAGE

Function :
• Resists compression
• Prevents bone-to-bone contact
• Limits relative movement
 FIBROUS CARTILAGE

 
Location :
• Intervertebral discs (resilient cushions between the bony vertebrae)
• Spongy cartilages of the knee and in pelvic girdle
• Pubic symphyses
• Hip joint
• TMJ, sternolavicular & menisci of knee joint
 BONE

BONE :
Specialized connective tissue composed of intercellular calcified matrix.
BONE

33 % ORG 67 % INORG

5 % NON HYDROXYAPATITE
28 % COLLAGEN COLLAGENOUS Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2
PROTEIN
 BONE

Cells :-Osteoblasts synthesize - organic components of matrix

-Osteocytes, found in lacunae within the matrix

-Osteoclasts, multinucleated giant cells - resorption and remodeling

of bone tissue - lie within depressions in the matrix known as Howship’s
lacunae.
INORGANIC MATTER:
-abundant calcium & phosphorus
-bicarbonate , citrate, magnesium, potassium, sodium,
flouride, chloride

OSTEOID: uncalcified matrix-seperates the osteoblasts from

calcification front of mineralised bone
 BONE

ORGANIC MATTER : composed of collagen fibres, ground

substance, interstitial fluid & free electrolytes
Mature : TypeI collagen
Ground substance: GAGs, proteoglycans, water ,GPs
• TYPES OF BONE :

By shape : Flat, Irregular, Short, and Long

By origin : Endochondral, Dermal, Alveolar, Sesamoid /Wormian

BONE HISTOLOGY:
• Dense outer sheet of compact bone
• Central medullary cavity
• The cavity is filled with red or yellow bone marrow
• Outer aspect compact bone is connective tissue membrane, the periosteum
which has 2 layers-outer fibrous layer &inner cellular layer
• The internal surfaces are covered by essentially cellular membrane, the
endosteum
 BONE

Compact bone : dense areas without cavities

-Deposited in thin layers called lamellae- form concentric patterns around
capillaries -located within tiny longitudinal tubes called central/ Haversian
canals.
-The canal, branch and anastomose with each other and with the external surface
of bone.
-Osteocytes and layers of intercellular material are concentrically clustered
around central canal to form a cylinder-shaped unit called Osteon, or Haversian
system.
Cancellous bone : Beams or trabeculae of mineralised bone
• The long axis of each trabeculae is generally oriented at 90° to the forces of muscle
tension & weight bearing
• Has a light, honeycomb structure

• Trabaeculae are arranged in the directions of tension and compression and made of
a number of lamellae.
• Occurs in the heads of the long bones, vertebrae
 BONE

FORMATION OF BONE :
It occurs by two methods :
Intramembranous
Endochondral

INTRAMEMBRANOUS OSSIFICATION
Eg: most of the flat bones
• Direct mineralization of matrix
• Within mesenchymal condensation
• Contributes to growth of short bones and thickening of long bones

• ENDOCHONDRAL :
• Deposition of bone matrix on a preexisting cartilage matrix
• Formation of short and long bones
 CELLULAR COMPONENTS OF
CONNECTIVE TISSUE
• FIBROBLAST
• MACROPHAGES
• MAST CELL
• PERICYTES
• PIGMENT CELL
• ADIPOCYTE
• BONE CELL
• CARTILAGE CELL
FIBROBLASTS
 FIBROBLASTS

 In young and active cells, the cytoplasm is abundant and basophilic

 Nucleus is ovoid, large and pale-staining, mitochondria are abundant and
several sets of Golgi complexes are present.
 Old and inactive fibroblasts – fibrocytes

-cytoplasm - sparse,
-ER - scanty,
-nucleus flattened & heterochromatic
(close-faced).
 FUNCTIONS OF FIBROBLASTS

• Synthesize collagen, elastin, glycosaminoglycans, proteglycans and

glycoproteins of extracellular matrix
• production of growth factors
• In glands and lymphoid tissue, fibroblasts & reticulin fibres 
fibrocellular networks.
• wound repair- fibrous matrix.
• Contraction of wounds (myofibroblasts)
 MACROPHAGES (HISTIOCYTES ,
CLASMATOCYTES)

• Bone marrow blood stream (monocytes) CT(Macrophages)

• change their appearance-phagocytic activity

• Fixed
• Motile –when stimulated.
• When grouped around a large foreign body, macrophages fuse
-syncytial giant cells and epithelioid cells.
 MACROPHAGES

• Kidney bean shaped nucleus –large

• prominent nucleoli
• 15-20μm in diameter

• More lysosomes
• Ingested materials in the cytoplasm

• Fuzzy cell border (outline)

• lamina propria of the oral mucosa – 2 types - melanophage and the
siderophage.
 MAST CELLS

• defensive cells
• Location : in loose CT
liver
blood vessels
nerves
• Round or oval
• 12 um in diameter
• many filopodia - cell surface
• vesicles - metachromatic staining reactions  acid GAG content
• Secretory granules : 0.3-2.0 µm in diameter
 MAST CELLS

Major Granule Components :

• Histamine,
• Proteoglycan , Heparin

• Tryptase, Superoxide Dismutase, Aryl Sulphatase,

• Other Enzymes: Eosinophil Chemotactic Factors & Neutrophil Chemotactic
Factors.
• Release Leukotrienes (C4, D4, E4) Or Slow-reacting Substance Of Anaphylaxis
(Srs-a).
 MAST CELLS

Medical applications :
• Storage of chemical mediators - immediate hypersensitivity reaction e.g.
anaphylactic shock
• Histamine- smooth muscle contraction, dilates and increases vascular
permeability
• Heparin released by mast cells is an anticoagulant
 LYMPHOCYTES

• Present in small numbers

• numerous in pathological states from lymphoid /circulation.
• Rounded, highly heterochromatic or often deeply indented nuclei
• When appropriately stimulated they enlarge, developing numerous
ribosomes.
• Large lymphocytes- 10-12 microns
• Small lymphocytes- 7-10 microns
• 2 Types- T lymphocytes & B lymphocytes
• T lymphocytes –CELL MEDIATED IMMUNITY
• B lymphocytes – HUMORAL IMMUNE RESPONSE
 PLASMA CELLS

• Rounded or ovoid 15um

• Egg-shaped cell with clear outline
• Basophilic cytoplasm
• Eccentrically located nucleus
• Cartwheel appearance, spherical
• abundant endoplasmic reticulum.

• Short life span, 10-20 days

 NEUTROPHILS &EOSINOPHILS

• Immigrant cells from the circulation

• small numbers, increases in number in infected tissues
• Neutrophils are highly phagocytic, esp towards bacteria
• Eosinophils are increased in allergic response and parasitic infections
 MELANOCYTES

• Found in basal and suprabasal layer of epidermis

• Concerned with synthesis of melanin pigment
• iris and choroid of the eye
• chromatophores/melanophores:starshaped-modified
fibroblasts –engulf pigment released by other cells
• Pevent light from reaching adjacent cells
Next session:
• Extra cellular components
• Collagen
• Non collagenous proteins
• Ground substance
• Periodontal connective tissues
• Conclusion
• References
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I thank all the staff members ,seniors & my batchmates of

department of periodontics, V .S. dental college & hospital,
Bangalore who helped me in this presentation
 REFERENCES

• Oral Histology-cell Structure & Function –DAVIS

• Oral Histology- INDERBER SINGH
• CARRANZA ‘S CLINICAL PERIODONTOLOGY
• TEN CATE’S ORAL HISTOLOGY
• Human Physiology –Guyton & Hall
THANK YOU
 Seminar
on
connective tissue

by
Dr. Gowri Arun
V.S.D.C.H
 Extracellular Matrix
Ground Substance
Fibres
Collagen
Structure
Types And Classification
Biosynthesis Of Collagen
Uses Of Collagen

Proteoglycan-glycosaminoglycans and core proteins

NON COLLAGENOUS PROTEINS
ELASTIN
 FIBRONECTIN
 LAMININS
 NIDOGEN
 TENASCIN
 THROMBOSPONDIN
 VITRONECTIN
 OSTEOPONTIN
 SPARC(OSTEONECTIN)
 OSTEOCALCIN
 BONE SIALOPROTEIN