TISSUES, TYPES AND FUNCTIONS
By: Dr. Rekha Valecha,
Lecturer, MBIT,
Delhi
TISSUES
Human body is made up of four basic
tissues: epithelial tissue, connective tissue,
muscular tissue and nervous tissue.
TISSUES
Epithelial tissue Connective tissue Muscular tissue Nervous tissue
Cells i. Cent
A.Simple a. i. Fibroblasts ral
i. Skeletal
epithelium ii. Fibrocytes nervous
muscles
i. Squamous b. Adipose /fat system
ii. Smooth
ii. Cuboidal cells ii. Peripheral
muscles
iii. Columnar c. Plasma cells nervous
iii. Cardiac
iv. Pseudostratifie d. Mast cells iii.system
muscles
d e. Macrophages Autonomic
f. Leucocytes nervous
B. Stratified system
g. Pigment cells
epithelium
h. Mesenchy
i. Transitional
mal cells
ii.Stratified
Fibres
squamous non-
i. Collagen
keratinized
fibres
iii. Stratified
ii. Elastic fibres
squamous
iii. Reticular
keratinized
fibres
EPITHELIAL TISSUE
Epithelial tissue lines the external & internal
surfacesof our body. It can be ectodermal,
mesodermal and endodermal in origin.
Function:
i. Protection
ii. Secretion
iii. Absorption
iv. Forms glands & ducts
Epithelium can be simple or stratified.
A. Simple Epithelium
An epithelium is called as simple when all the cells
rest on the basement membrane. It can be :
i. Squamous epithelium-is one in which cells are
flattened with nuclei raising a bulge in the cell. It
allows rapid exchange of substances through it.
e.g. epithelial lining of alveloi .
ii. Cuboidal epithelium- is one in which cells are
like a square where height of the cell is equal to the
width of the cell. The nucleus is central and round.
Its main function is absorption and secretion e.g.
epithelial lining of follicles of thyroid gland.
iii. Columnar epithelium- is the one wherein the
height of the cells is greater than the width of the cells.
The nuclei is basal and vertically elongated.
Functions of a columnar cell are protection, secretion
and absorption. e.g. epithelial lining of fallopian tubes.
Cilia
Single layer of column
of rectangular cells
Basement
membrane
iv. Pseudostratified epithelium- Pseudo= false,
stratified= multilayered. As the name suggest there is
false appearance that the epithelium is multilayered.
In fact some cells are short while the others are tall
but all the cells rest on basement membrane e.g.
epithelial lining of trachea.
B. STRATIFIED EPITHELIUM
Multilayered epithelium is known as stratified
epithelium.
i. Transitional epithelium- this kind of epithelium
lines an organ which is distensible e.g. urinary
bladder.
ii. Stratified squamous non- keratinized
epithelium– it is a multilayered epithelium in
which basal cells are columnar. E.g. epithelial
lining of esophagus.
iii. Stratified squamous keratinized epithelium – It
is a multilayered epithelium just like Stratified
squamous non- keratinized epithelium but here the
top most layer is that of keratin through which water
can neither be evaporated from the body as in
standing in sun nor can it be absorbed into the body
as while swimming e.g. epidermis of skin.
CONNECTIVE TISSUE
As the name suggests it connects different
components of our body. It is made up of cells, fibres
and matrix. Fibroblasts, fibrocytes, macrophages and
adipose cells are the example of some connective
tissue cells. Matrix is composed of ground substance
and fibres.
Functions:
i. Providing support to different parts of our body.
ii. Connects different components of our body.
iii. It is a medium for exchange of nutrients,
metabolites and oxygen between blood and cells.
CELLS
a. i. Fibroblasts- the cells which synthesize collagen
fibres, elastic fibres and lays down matrix are
know as fibroblasts.
ii. Fibrocytes- when the fibroblasts mature they
are known as fibrocytes.
b. Adipose / fat cells- they are rounded cells
but they are usually present in group, they get
mutually compressed so may have variable
shape. They have fat globule in their cytoplasm
which pushes the nucleus to periphery giving
the cell signet ring appearance. Their function
is to store fat in their cytoplasm.
c. Plasma cells- rounded to ovoid basophilic
cells with cart wheel nucleus. They are rich in
rER. Their function is to synthesize
immunoglobulins.
FAT CELLS
PLASMA CELLS
CART
WHEEL
NUCLEUS
PLASM
A
CELLS
d.Mast cells- they are involved in inflammatory
reactions.
e.Macrophages- their function is to engulf various
foreign particles.
f.Leucocytes- White Blood Cells are known as
leucocytes. They are neutrophils, lymphocytes,
eosinophils, basophils and monocytes. They have
defensive action.
g.Pigment cells- import brown color to the skin when
they are present in epidermis. Their presence offers
protection against ultraviolet rays of the sunlight.
h.Mesenchymal cells- are undifferentiated cells. They
can differentiate into a variety of cell types.
FIBRES
a. Collagen fibres- they are flexible but offer
great tensile strength. They found in tendons,
ligaments and all kinds connective tissues.
b. Elastic fibres- they can stretch and then come
back to their normal size when stretching
force is relieved. They are found in
ligamentum nuchae, ligamentum flava and in
the wall of large arteries.
c. Reticular fibres- they are special type of
collagen fibres and can be seen only by
special stain. They are seen in the connective
tissue framework of spleen, liver lymph nodes.
Connective tissue can be :
A. General connective tissue:
a. Loose connective tissue
b. Dense connective tissue
c. Mucoid tissue
d. Adipose tissue
B. Specialized connective tissue: this comprises of
bones, cartilages an hemolymphoid tissue.
a. Cartilage – Hyaline cartilage, elastic cartilage,
fibrocartilage
b. Bone- made up of organic & inorganic substances.
c. Hemolymphoid tissue- blood & lymphatics fall in this
group.
MUSCULAR TISSUE
There are three types of muscles namely-
a. Skeletal muscle (Striated muscle)- they
help in locomotion e.g. biceps femoris.
b. Smooth muscles (Non-striated muscle)
they are present in the viscera of our body
e.g. muscle in the wall of stomach.
c. Cardiac muscle- it is seen only in the heart.
Contraction of this muscle helps in pumping
of blood throughout our body.
NERVOUS TISSUE
It consists of central nervous system,
peripheral nervous system and autonomic
nervous system. It helps in sending different
kinds of information to brain and bringing its
responses back from brain to the effector
organ.
NERVOUS
TISSUE
Nervous system
1. central nervous system:- brain and spinal cord
2. peripheral nervous system:- cranial and spinal
nerve.
• Nervous tissue Consists of:-
1. Neuron
2. Supporting cells(neuroglia)
• Neurons : transmit electrical impulses
from one site in the body to another,
and receive and process information
• Neuroglia : are non-conducting cells that
are in intimate physical contact with
neurons .
Neurons –
Functional unit of
nervous system -
It Consists of:
• Cell body
• Processes
Cell body (perikaryon or soma)
•It is basically a cell nucleus
surrounded by cytoplasm.
•Nuclei of nerve cells are:
large, round and
euchromatic with a single
prominent nucleolus.
•Centrioles- absent.
•Cytoplasm of nerve cell
bodies is abundantly
supplied with: - masses of
RER ,numerous Golgi
bodies, lysosomes
Cell
body.....
•Nissl substance:-(nissl bodies
/ granules):-granular
material, composed of rough
endoplasmic reticulum.
protein synthesis – high
•Neurofibrils:- microflaments
and microtubules)
•Pigment granules:-
neuromelanin(
substantia nigra)
lipofuscin(resudual bodies –
lysosomes)
Aggregation of cell body-- within CNS– k/a--nuclei
outside
PROCESSES
(NEURITES)
Two types:-
• Axon
• Dendrites
Axon:- Initial sement
• long, cylindrical process up to 1m
• nissl substance absent
• axon hillock
• impulse:- away from cell body.
• telodendria.
• terminal boutons.
telodendri
• commonly refer to as nerve fibers a
Dendrites
•Numerous, Highly
branched
•Irregular
•Terminate near the cell
body.
•Nissl granules – present
•Impluse- towards the cell
body
