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This
slide shows a thin section of loose connective tissue (sometimes called areolar
tissue). This type of tissue is used extensively throughout the body for
fastening down the skin, membranes, blood vessels and nerves as well as binding
muscles and other tissues together. It often fills in the spaces between
epithelial, muscle and nervous tissue, forming what is known as the stroma
of an organ, while the term parenchyma refers to the functional
components of an organ. The tissue consists of an extensive network of fibers
secreted by cells called fibroblasts (1). The most numerous of these
fibers are the thicker, lightly staining (pink) collagen fibers (2).
Thinner, dark-staining elastic fibers (3) composed of the protein elastin
can also be seen in the section. |