Connective Tissue Cells (Nursing)

00:00 So now let's discuss the general features of connective tissue. Connective tissue is made up of 2 basic components. You have the cells of the connective tissue and then you have the extracellular matrix which is all the stuff outside of the cell. Connective tissue cells do not have any free surfaces unlike our epithelial cells and as well the connective tissue is highly vascularized and has a nerve supply unlike the epithelial tissue which did not contain any blood vessels. The exceptions to this rule include the tendons and the cartilage which do not have a high vasculature as well as very little nerve supply. So, there are 3 different types of tissue cells found in connective tissue. There are fibroblasts, adipocytes, and also several different types of white blood cells. First, the fibroblasts are large flat cells that are able to There are also type of cells that live within the mineralized connective tissue or bone.

01:03 These cells include osteoblasts, osteoclasts, osteocytes and bone lining cells.

01:11 different types of white blood cells. First, the fibroblasts are large flat cells that are able to move to the connective tissue and their general function is to secrete the extracellular matrix. This is going to include the fibers and the ground substance that surrounds the cells.

01:30 The 2nd type of cell found in connective tissue is adipocytes. Adipocytes are fat cells that store a large amount of triglycerides. As you can see, they almost look like they're empty but in fact they are not empty, that is actually a large content of triglycerides. This is going to be found below the skin in the subcutaneous level as well as in the fatty tissue that surrounds a lot of your different organs. Another type of connective tissue cell is macrophages.

02:02 This is one of several different types of white blood cells found in connective tissue.

02:07 Macrophages are there to destroy the bacteria that get into the connective tissue and they do this by phagocytosing the bacteria and chopping it up into little bitty pieces. Another white blood cell is eosinophils. Eosinophils are especially used for fighting off parasitic infections and are also found in allergic reactions. A 3rd type of white blood cell found in connective tissue is neutrophils. Like macrophages, these are there to destroy different types of microbes using phagocytosis. Another type of white blood cell found in our connective tissue are different types of plasma cells. These cells developed from B cells or B lymphocytes and they are there to secrete antibodies that are used to attack foreign substances. If there is an allergic reaction or an inflammatory response, we also have the presence of mass cells which is another type of white blood cell found in the connective tissue. The mass cells are going to produce and secrete histamine and this allows for the dilation of blood vessels as well as the inflammatory response that's able to kill bacteria.