Virtual Lab

Connective Tissue

A. General Connective Tissues
-	Plate	Figure	Slide	Comments
1. Loose	6	1-4	2 2	Areolar connective tissue - intestinal mesentery. Note the large number of cells, the wavy bundles of collagen fibers and the thin elastic fibers. H&E and thionin.
1. Loose	10	2	3	Mesentery. H&E, Azure II, and India ink. Mast cells are dark blue to purple due to Azure stain, while macrophages are speckled black due to phagocytized carbon particles.
2. Dense Irregular	10	1	61 63 suppl. suppl. suppl.	See dermis of skin and connective tissue of the digestive tract. H&E.
3. Dense Regular	9	1,2	7	Elastic ligament.
3. Dense Regular	9	3	5 5 15 21	Tendons. H&E.
B. Specialized Connective Tissues
-	Plate	Figure	Slide	Comments
1. Elastic	-	-	7	Elastic ligament. Elastic fibers appear as wavy, refractile lines embedded in a dense regular connective tissue. [To see them, increase the contrast by stopping-down the condensor diaphragm.]
	10	3	45	See wall of blood vessel - elastic fibers appear as refractile lines, best seen by stopping down the condensor diaphragm. H&E.
	-	-	46	See wall of blood vessel - elastic fibers appear as black lines. Verhoeff's elastin stain; no counterstain.
2. Adipose	-	Fig. 6.1 Fig. 6.2	51	Occurs abundantly; here can be seen around periphery of lymph nodes. H&E and Azure.
	58	1	61 62 63 64	See adipose tissue under the skin. H&E.
			142	White and brown adipose tissue. H&E.
			34	White adipose tissue stained with osmium tetroxide.
3. Reticular	52	2	6	A silver impregnated preparation of human lymph node showing reticular fibers as a fine black network. Bielschowsky's silver stain.
4. Mucous	-	5.20	4	Umbilical cord. H&E.

C. Cells of the connective tissues
The slides listed in this section are not the only ones in which these types of cells may be seen, but they are the ones where the cells can be seen most clearly.
Cell	Slide	Comments
1. Fibroblasts	4	Umbilical cord. H&E.
1. Fibroblasts	2 8	Loose connective tissue. Verhoeff's elastin stain (2); H&E, Azure II and India ink (8).
2. Macrophages	96	Liver, stained to show phagocytosis by macrophages. H&E.
	8	Mesentery. Macrophages can be visualized because they have phagocytized particles of India Ink. Don't confuse the black ink particles with the purple-stained granules of mast cells.
	2	Mesentery. H&E.
	4	Umbilical cord. About half of the connective tissue cells are macrophages, but they are difficult to distinguish from fibroblasts. H&E.
3. Mast cells	2 8 suppl.	Look for oval-shaped cells whose cytoplasm is filled with basophilic or metachromatic staining granules.
4. White fat cells	suppl.	Can be seen around the periphery of lymph nodes (51) and under the skin (63 and suppl.).
5. Eosinophils	2 67 87-94	Best seen in the connective tissue of the villi of the small intestine, as well as in c.t. of oral cavity, esophagus, stomach and colon.
6. Plasma cells	67 122 suppl. suppl.	Can be found in loose connective tissue throughout the body, including the soft palate (67), the mammary gland (122), the intestines (suppl.).
Cell	Slide	Comments
7. Lymphocytes	2 67 88	Well seen in the connective tissue of the soft palate and of the small and large intestine.
8. Granulocytes	67 87-94	Well seen in the blood vessels and connective tissue of the soft palate and of the small and large intestine. Seen in the connective tissue proper only during inflammation.

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