adv bio

• Connective tissue


  Type of animal tissue made up of cells, fibers and a gel-like substance
• Connective tissue


  • Supports, protects, and gives structure to other tissues and organs in the body
  • Stores fat
  • Helps move nutrients and other substances between tissues and organs
  • Helps repair damaged tissue
• Connective tissue


  • Connects body parts
  • Found everywhere in the body
  • Most abundant and widely distributed of the tissue types
• Components of connective tissue

  • Cells
  • Protein fibers
  • Ground substance
• Wandering/migrant cells


  Cells found in connective tissue that are not fixed in place, usually referring to blood leukocytes
• Types of connective tissue

  • Loose connective tissue
  • Dense connective tissue
  • Specialized connective tissue
• Loose connective tissue


  Connective tissue proper that holds and binds organs together, characterized by loose, multidirectional weave of extracellular fibers and cells loosely separated in the rich extracellular matrix
• Loose connective tissue


  • Most common type in humans and other vertebrates
  • Holds or binds biological organs together
  • Binds epithelial tissue to adjacent tissues
  • Surrounds blood vessels and nerves
  • Site of fluid and gas exchange between blood and adjacent tissues
• Types of loose connective tissue

  • Areolar connective tissue
  • Reticular connective tissue
• Dense connective tissue


  Also called dense fibrous tissue, due to relative abundance of collagen fiber as the main matrix element, mainly composed of type I collagen
• Specialized connective tissue


  Encompasses a number of different tissues with specialized cells and unique ground substances, some solid and strong, others fluid and flexible
• Examples of specialized connective tissue

  • Adipose
  • Cartilage
  • Bone
  • Blood
  • Lymph
• Adipose connective tissue


  Connective tissue consisting mainly of fat cells (adipocytes), specialized to synthesize and contain large globules of fat, within a structural network of fibers