ANIMAL TISSUE

A group of cells that are similar in structure and/or work together to achieve a particular
function forms a tissue. A group of tissues with the same functions forms an organ and group of
organs forms an organ system. The group of organ system make an organism.

There are four types of tissue found in an animal.

 Epithelial tissue
 Connective tissue
 Muscle tissue
 Nervous tissue

Multicellular (large) organisms function more efficiently if cells become specialized for specific
functions.

A tissue is composed of cells that function together in a specialized activity.

 EPITHELIAL TISSUE
Forming tight covering and protecting layers below.

(largest organ- skin, largest gland- liver)

 CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Holding other tissues together and are surrounded by lots of non living material.

 MUSCLE TISSUE

Shortening and lengthening to move other tissues.

 NERVOUS TISSUE

Allowing rapid flow of ions in and out to conduct signals

EPITHELIAL TISSUES

The skin, the lining of the mouth, the lining of blood vessels, lung alveoli and kidney tubules are
all made of epithelial tissue. Epithelial tissue cells are tightly packed and form a continuous
sheet.

They have only a small amount of cementing material between them and almost no
intercellular spaces. Obviously, anything entering or leaving the body must cross at least one
layer of epithelium. As a result, the permeability of the cells of various epithelia play an
important role in regulating the exchange of materials between the body and the external
environment and also between different parts of the body.

Two types of epithelial tissues

 Covering and lining epithelium (outer layer of the skin and some organs)
 Glandular epithelium (constitute the secreting portion of glands)

There are three types of cells in epithelial tissues

 Squamous – thin flat cells eg: oesophagus and the lining of the mouth, Skin epithelial
cells are arranged in many layers to prevent wear and tear. Since they are arranged in a
pattern of layers, the epithelium is called stratified squamous epithelium.
  Cuboidal - cells are roughly square, forms the lining of kidney tubules and ducts of
salivary glands, where it provides mechanical support.
 Columnar- elongated cells

GLANDULAR EPITHELIUM
Epithelial cells often acquire additional specialisation as gland cells, which can secrete
substances at the epithelial surface. Sometimes a portion of the epithelial tissue folds inward,
and a multicellular gland is formed. This is glandular epithelium.

Two types of glands :

EXOCRINE- secrete their products into ducts.

Eg: salivary glands and mammary glands

ENDOCRINE – secrete their products into blood stream.

Eg : Pancreas

FUNCTIONS OF EPITHELIAL TISSUES

 Provides physical protection

 Control permeability
 Detects sensations (sight, smell, taste)

CONNECTIVE TISSUES

Most abundant and most widely distributed tissues in the body. These tissues provide support
for organs and the body as a whole, protect and insulate internal organs and compartmentalize
structures such as skeletal muscles, nerves. It is made up of cells, ground substances and fibers.
Ground substances together with fibers make matrix.

Connective tissues can be classified as:

 Loose connective tissue(fibers are loosely woven)

  Dense connective tissue(few cells among a dense network of fibers with little ground
substances)
 Cartilage(tough but flexible)
 Areolar connective tissue is found between the skin and muscles, around blood vessels
and nerves and in the bone marrow. It fills the space inside the organs, supports internal
organs and helps in repair of tissues.
 Blood tissue – (composed of blood cells, cell fragments and blood plasma)
 Bone tissue(two types; compact and spongy)
o Compact – with osteons
o Spongy – no osteons
 Adipose tissue

ADIPOSE TISSUES

Fat or adipose tissue is an anatomical term for loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes.

Its main role is to store energy in the form of fat, although it also cushions and insulates the
body.

TENDONS

Tendons connect BONE to MUSCLE. The Achilles tendon is the largest and strongest tendon in
the body.
LIGAMENT

Ligaments connect BONE to BONE. The longest ligament founds in the human body is the
ligament of Plantaris.

MUSCLE TISSUE

They are elongated and are called as muscle fibers. This tissue is responsible for movement in
our body. Muscles contain special proteins called contractile proteins, which contract and relax
to cause movement.(actin and myosin, actin and myosin are reponsible for Rigor Mortis)

Muscle cells have main properties:

 Excitability (ability to respond to stimuli)

 Contractibility (ability to contract)
 Elasticity (ability to returns to its original shape)
 Extensibility (ability to be stretched without tearing)

Muscle tissue is classified into three types (cardiac, skeletal and smooth)
SKELETAL MUSCLES

These are known as striated muscles or voluntary muscles.

These muscles are attached to bones by tendons and are responsible for skeletal movements.
Basic unit of a skeletal muscle is a muscle fiber. The cells of this tissue are long, cylindrical,
unbranched and multinucleate (having many nuclei).

CARDIAC MUSCLES

These are unique and found only in the wall of the heart. These muscles are involuntary in
action. They don’t get fatigued(because of no formation of lactic acid).

SMOOTH MUSCLES

These are made up of thin elongated muscle cells, called smooth muscle fibers. These fibers are
pointed at their ends and each has a single, large oval nucleus. Each cell has many myofibrils
which lies parallel to one another in striated pattern, as in skeletal muscles. They are found in
the iris of the eye, in ureters and in the bronchi of the lungs.
NERVOUS TISSUE
It is found in the brain, spinal cord and nerves and consists of only two principal kinds of cells,
neurons and neuroglial.

NERVOUS TISSUE

Neuroglial cells that do not transmit impulses but instead support the activities of the neurons.
Schwann cells, a type in the peripheral nevous system found only in mammals.

Cells of nervous tissue have three principal parts:

 Dendrites - Many short, branched parts (processes) called dendrites.

 Cell body- contains nucleus and cytoplasm.
 Axon – Each neuron has a single long part (process), called the axon.

All information from our environment is detected by the specialised tips of some nerve cells.
These receptors are usually located in our sense organs, such as the inner ear, the nose, the
tongue, and so on. So gustatory receptors will detect taste while olfactory receptors will detect
smell.The information, acquired at the end of the dendritic tip of a nerve cell, sets off a
chemical reaction that creates an electrical impulse. This impulse travels from the dendrite to
the cell body, and then along the axon to its end. At the end of the axon, the electrical impulse
sets off the release of some chemicals. These chemicals cross the gap, or synapse, and start a
similar electrical impulse in a dendrite of the next neuron. This is a general scheme of how
nervous impulses travel in the body. A similar synapse finally allows delivery of such impulses
from neurons to other cells, such as muscles cells or gland.

Nervous tissues are the only tissues in the human body that do not regenerate. Neuron is the
largest cell the human body.