Histogenesis of the intercellular substance of the connective

tissue
★ Intercellular substance is made from ground substance. Ground substance:
◦ It is a gel like material which can be liquid or solid. Its features are optical homogeneity,
hydrophobicity, and is stained metachromatic. It is colourless, and fills the spaces between fibres
and cells
◦ Ground substance is synthesised by fibroblasts, Osteoblasts, chondroblasts, and smooth muscle
cells
◦ Ground substance is very good at absorbing water (spongey absorbing 90% of the extracellular
matrix.
◦ Ground substance is made up of glycosoaminoglycans (GAGs) which link together to form
proteoglycans
► GAGs:
◦ Are carbohydrates made up of one sugar residue and one amino sugar hence the name amino-
glycan
◦ They form other types of intracellular substance such as:
◦ Proteoglycans which create pores in the matrix to allow movement of molecules. Presence
of proteoglycan give metachromsia to ground substance
◦ Hyaluronic acid (HA) which is found in cartilage making them extremely long and rigid.

★ Biosynthesis of collagen
◦ Tropocollagen is synthesised by fibroblast and released into extracellular space, where they get
polymerised to form collagen fibres.
◦ Also synthesised by other cells also, e.g., Chondroblasts in cartilage, osteoblast in bone and
smooth muscle in blood vessel.
 Three such chains join to form

PROCOLLAGEN MOLECULE

1r
Such molecule through s leave the cell vacuoles
Tropocollagen molecules
secretory to form |

Which aggregate to form 1

COLLAGEN FIBRES |