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Connective Tissues (CT)

  • Loose CT (adipose, areolar, &reticular)
  • Dense CT (dense regular, dense irregular, & elastic)
  • Supportive CT (bone, hyaline cartilage, elastic cartilage, & fibrocartilage)
  • Fluid CT (blood & lymph)

Watch an Introductory Video on all Loose Connective Tissues

Loose Connective Tissues

Microscopic view of Adipose connective tissue, slide 177-2, from a recto anal junction. Staining highlights the cellular structure: large, polygonal adipocytes with clear cytoplasm and peripheral nuclei. Thin fibrous septa separate the cells. Connective tissue is visible in the upper-left corner.
Adipose connective tissue from a recto anal junction, stained for microscopic analysis.

Adipose

Histological slide showing areolar connective tissue (top) stained pink, with interwoven collagen fibers and scattered cells with dark nuclei in a white matrix. Beneath, a section of stained pink plantar tendon cells and collagen fibers. Brightfield microscopy, high magnification.
Areolar connective tissue and plantar tendon stained pink and white, as seen under a microscope.

Areolar

Microscopic image of lymph node tissue stained with silver. Dark brown/black reticular fibers form a net-like structure interspersed with densely packed purple lymphocytes. The reticular fiber network dominates the midground, with dispersed lymphocytes filling the texture. Focus appears sharp, typical of histology slides. Illumination from behind is mostly even, creating high contrast with the reticular fibers.
Lymph node reticular tissue, silver stain showing reticular fibers and lymphocytes.

Reticular

Dense Connective Tissues

Watch an Introductory Video on all Dense Connective Tissues

Photomicrograph of dense irregular connective tissue of plantar skin, intensely stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). Thick bundles of eosinophilic collagen fibers are arranged in a non-parallel, interwoven pattern, dominating the field. Scattered elongated nuclei are seen within the collagen matrix, representing fibroblasts. The H&E staining highlights the protein-rich collagen as pink and the cell nuclei as darker shades.
Dense regular connective tissue. Pink collagen fibers with purple fibrocytes.

Dense Regular

A microscopic image shows dense irregular connective tissue. Curvy, pink collagen bundles are interwoven throughout a mostly white background. Darker stained fibroblasts are scattered among the collagen.
Microscopic view of dense irregular connective tissue, with collagen stained pink.

Dense Irregular

Microscopic image showcasing elastic connective tissue, stained pink contrasting with deep purple. Predominantly shows densely packed wavy elastic fibers running diagonally across the frame. Small, darkly stained nuclei appear scattered throughout the fibrous matrix against a light background. High magnification reveals intricate banding within the fibers.
Elastic connective tissue: pink stained fibers with red-stained squiggly, elastic fibers.

Elastic

Supportive Connective Tissues

Microscopic ground compact bone. Image displays multiple osteons in light gray shades. The osteons appear as concentric rings surrounding dark oval-shaped central canals. Fine, radiating lines are observed extending outward from each ring. The overall composition fills the frame with a dense, irregular pattern.
Microscopic view of ground compact bone showing concentric circles (osteons) around dark central canals.

Bone

High magnification microscopic image of hyaline cartilage within the trachea. The dominant purple matrix contains chondrocytes, small cells appearing encapsulated in circular or oval lacunae that vary in darkness and internal detail. The overall composition is dense, showcasing fine cellular structure.
Hyaline cartilage chondrocytes in lacunae with a glassy background characteristic of hyaline cartilage.

Hyaline Cartilage

Microscopic view of elastic cartilage tissue stained with Masson Trichrome. Numerous chondrocytes, the cells responsible for cartilage production and maintenance, appear embedded within roundish spaces called lacunae. The extracellular matrix surrounding the cells is stained blue, and the nuclei of the cells are visible as small, darker areas. The tissue shows the characteristic flexibility and resilience of elastic cartilage due to elastic fibers in the matrix.
Elastic cartilage with Masson Trichrome stain showing elastin fibers in the extracellular matrix.

Elastic Cartilage

High magnification picture of fibrocartilage showing collagen bundles sweeping across the field of view. Fibrocytes and fibrocytes are scattered between individual collagen fibers. Their small nuclei are purple stained and the cytoplasm is so light, it is almost nonexistent.
High magnification picture of fibrocartilage of an intervertebral disc.

Fibrocartilage

Adipose Recto-anal junction, monkey, H&E, 40X Slide 177
Areolar Thick skin, sole of foot, H&E, 40X Slide 106
Reticular Lymph node, stained with silver to show reticular fibers Slide 28-2
Dense Regular Thick skin, sole of foot, H&E, 40X Slide 106
Dense Irregular Small intestine, H&E, 40X Slide 029-1
Elastic Aorta, H&E, 20X Slide 88
Bone Ground section of compact bone, cross section, 40X Slide 093-B
Hyaline Cartilage Trachea, H&E, 40X Slide 40
Elastic Cartilage Ear pinna, aldehyde fuchsin and Masson, 20X Slide 044
Fibrocartilage Intervertebral disc, H&E, 40X Slide 45
All by University of Michigan Histology, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

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General Information
Adipose CT
Areolar CT
Reticular CT
Dense Regular CT
Dense Irregular CT
Elastic CT
Bone CT
Hyaline Cartilage CT
Elastic Cartilage CT
Fibrocartilage CT

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