Page 40 - Headlines Histology2024_Neat

Functions
• Fibroblasts synthesis and secret the precursors of collagen
(tropocollagen), elastin (tropoelastin), the glycosaminoglycans, and all
other extracellular components.
• They are the principal cells involved in wound repair and growth of
connective tissue.

FREE, WANDERING OR VISITANT CELLS OF
CONNECTIVE TISSUE

1. Adipose cells (Adipocytes)

• There are two types of fat cells; white (monolocular) and brown
(multilocular).

• The white adipocytes are polygonal or spherical in shape. The cell
occupied by a single large lipid droplet surrounded by a thin rim of
cytoplasm.

• The nuclei are flattened and displaced to on side.
• In H&E sections, fat is dissolved during the dehydration and clearing

processes. Fat cells appear as large clear spaces surrounded by thin layer
of cytoplasm giving the cells a signet ring appearance.
• With EM, the lipid droplet is surrounded by a thin layer of cytoplasm
contains a flattened nucleus, a small Golgi apparatus, rER and
mitochondria.
• The lipid inclusion is not membrane-bounded, but the cytoplasm
adjacent to its surface often contains microfilaments.
• The white fat cells tend to occur along the course of blood vessels and
they may also occur either singly or in-groups within the loose
connective tissue layers.

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