Connective Tissue Proper

Connective tissue proper comes in several varieties.

Loose is characterized by having many cells and fewer fibers. This most common of all connective tissue fills any and all unoccupied spaces in the body, binds all skeletal muscle, and makes up the connective tissue layers in mucous membranes, as well as the subcutaneous tissue "holding down" the skin.

Dense characteristically has many fibers. The chief functional feature here is strength. The fibers may be arranged in coarse, interwoven bundles, as in dense irregular, or arranged neatly in parallel, as in dense regular. Dense irregular is significantly stronger than loose and is found encapsulating many organs of the body. As periosteum it covers bone; as perichondrium it covers cartilage. Dense regular is particularly suited for tissues that experience high tensile (pulling) forces, such as ligaments (which connect bone to bone) and tendons (which connect muscle to bone or muscle to muscle).

Elastic is found in the walls of large arteries and in certain ligaments. Elastic offers a degree of resiliency not found in other tissues.

Adipose is composed of large spherical cells whose cytoplasm is filled with fat. Thus it is called fatty tissue. The cells are

• often pressed together and the nuclei of the cells are pushed off to one side. Fatty tissue is active metabolically, its ability to synthesize fat from carbohydrates is influenced by hormones. Fatty tissue is fairly rich in its supply of nerves and blood vessels.

Reticular consists of delicate fibers and cells that form a supportive network for free and fixed cells composing such structures as lymphatic organs, bone marrow, and liver.

Embryonic is the connective tissue found in the embryo (not pictured).

#lemon8diarychallenge #biology #womeninstem #college #COLOR #learning #art #studentlife #studygram #summer