Connective tissue: the physical or functional supporting tissue of the animal body, a major constituent of which (in addition to various kinds of cells) is an extracellular matrix of ground substance, protein fibers, and structural glycoproteins; it is derived from the mesenchyme, which in turn is derived mainly from mesoderm; the many kinds of connective tissue may be classified according to cell-matrix proportion (loose vs. dense), arrangement of fibers (regular dense vs. irregular dense), fiber type (collagenous, elastic), embedded cell type (adipose, lymphoid, hemopoietic), degree of differentiation (mesenchymal, mucous), location (subcutaneous, periosteal, perichondrial), appearance (areolar, granulation), or nature of matrix (cartilaginous, osseous, or, in the cases of blood and lymph, liquid). SYN: interstitial tissue, supporting tissue, tela conjunctiva.
Source: Stedman's Medical Spellchecker, © 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.
Connective tissue: Supporting tissue that surrounds other tissues and organs. Specialized connective tissue includes bone, cartilage, blood, and fat.
Source: National Institute of Health
Connective tissue: tissue of mesodermal origin consisting of e.g. collagen fibroblasts and fatty cells; supports organs and fills spaces between them and forms tendons and ligaments.
Source: WordNet 2.1
Connective tissue: tissue that supports and binds other tissues; consists of connective tissue cells embedded in a large amount of extracellular matrix.
Source: CRISP
Connective tissue: Tissue that supports and binds other tissues. It consists of CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS embedded in a large amount of EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX.
Source: MeSH 2007
These medical condition or symptom topics may be relevant to medical information for Connective tissue:
Connective tissue (organ): Connective tissue is a collection of cells and fibers suspended in a gel-like matrix that perform specific functions of the body's framework. Connective tissues bind, support, insulate and strengthen other tissues. Connective tissue also cushions and protects organs and is involved with the transport of materials throughout the body. Connective tissue makes up such structures as cartilage, tendons, ligaments, fat, the dermis, blood and bone and is also found in the linings of body cavities and hollow organs.
Conditions that can afflict the connective tissue include Marfan syndrome, scurvy, genetic diseases, lupus, infection, trauma, cancer, congenital anomalies, metabolic syndromes, autoimmune diseases and inflammation.
Connective tissue (organ): Elastic tissues such as the skin require a strong and resilient structural framework. This framework is called the extracellular matrix, or connective tissue. The orientation of the connective tissues --- adipose (fat cells), cartilage, bone, tendons, and ligaments --- found beneath the skin are also key for tissue appearance and function. All connective tissue is composed of three major classes of biomolecules: structural proteins (collagen and elastin), specialized proteins (fibrillin, fibronectin, and laminin), and proteoglycans.
Connective tissue is the material between the cells of the body that gives tissues form and strength. This "cellular glue" is also involved in delivering nutrients to the tissue, and in the special functioning of certain tissues. Connective tissue is made up of dozens of proteins, including collagens, proteoglycans, and glycoproteins. The combination of these proteins can vary between tissues. The genes that encode these proteins can harbor defects or mutations, which can affect the functioning of certain properties of connective tissue in selected tissues. (Source: excerpt from Questions and Answers about Heritable Disorders of Connective Tissue: NIAMS)
Tissues such as skin, tendons, and cartilage that support and hold body parts together. The chief component of connective tissue is collagen. (Source: excerpt from Handout on Health Scleroderma: NIAMS)
Connective tissue (organ): See Connective tissue (organ information).
More information on organs: Connective tissue:
Source - MeSH 2007
Source - MeSH 2007
Source - CRISP
Source - WordNet 2.1
Source - CRISP
Source - WordNet 2.1
Source: CRISP
The following list attempts to classify Connective tissue into categories where each line is subset of the next.
Source: WordNet 2.1
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