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Fabrics with special properties
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025
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Connective tissues with special properties include fatty, reticular and mucous tissues. They are located only in certain organs and areas of the body and are characterized by special structural features and unique functions.
Adipose tissue performs trophic, depository, form-forming and thermoregulatory functions. There are two types of adipose tissue: white, formed by single-drop adipocytes, and brown, formed by multi-drop adipocytes. Groups of fat cells are combined into lobules, separated from each other by partitions of loose fibrous connective tissue, in which vessels and nerves pass. Between individual adipocytes there are thin collagen and reticular fibers, next to which there are blood capillaries. In humans, white adipose tissue predominates. It surrounds some organs, maintaining their position in the human body (for example, kidneys, lymph nodes, eyeball, etc.), fills the spaces of organs that are not yet functioning (for example, the mammary gland), replaces red bone marrow in the diaphyses of long tubular bones. Most of the adipose tissue is reserve (subcutaneous base, omentum, mesentery, fatty appendages of the large intestine, subserous base). The amount of brown adipose tissue in an adult is small. It is present mainly in a newborn child. Like white, brown adipose tissue also forms lobules formed by multi-drop adipocytes. The brown color is due to the many blood capillaries, abundance of mitochondria and lysosomes in multi-drop adipocytes. The main function of brown adipose tissue in newborns is thermal insulation. In animals, brown adipose tissue maintains body temperature during hibernation.
Reticular connective tissue forms the stroma of the spleen, lymph nodes, and red bone marrow. It is formed by reticular cells, which are connected by their processes, and reticular fibers. When impregnated (stained with silver), a network consisting of thin black fibers that form a mesh frame is visible under a microscope. In the loops of this network are located cells, mainly lymphocytes, reticular cells, macrophages, and plasma cells.
Mucous connective tissue is present only in the embryo, therefore it is classified as an embryonic tissue. Morphologically, it resembles mesenchyme, differing from it in its high degree of differentiation. Mucous connective tissue is part of the umbilical cord and chorion, surrounds the blood vessels of the fetus. The mucous tissue of the umbilical cord (Wharton's jelly) is formed by mucous cells (they are sometimes called mucocytes), which have a branched shape and resemble mesenchymal cells, and intercellular substance, which is stained pink with toluidine blue due to the presence of a large amount of hyaluronic acid. Thin collagen fibers pass through the loops formed by the cells of the mucous tissue. Multi-branched cells form a three-dimensional network. Intertwined bundles of collagen microfibrils provide strength to the umbilical cord, and the ability of glycosaminoglycans to bind water creates turgor, which prevents compression of the vessels when the umbilical cord twists. As the fetus ages, the number of collagen fibers in the mucous tissue increases.
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