Soft tissue
General
Histology-fibrous tissue & nerve
Author: Komal Arora, M.D.
Last author update: 1 July 2012
Last staff update: 10 October 2024 (update in progress)
Copyright: 2002-2025, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Normal histology of soft tissue [title]
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Nerve | Diagrams / tables | Microscopic (histologic) images | Additional referencesCite this page: Arora K. Histology-fibrous tissue & nerve. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/softtissuefibrousnormal.html. Accessed January 10th, 2025.
Definition / general
- Fibrous tissue consists of fibroblasts and extracellular matrix
- Extracellular matrix consists of collagen, elastin and ground substance
Fibrous tissue:
- Loose or dense
- Dense fibrous tissue includes tendons (connect muscle to bone), ligaments (connect bones or cartilage to each other), aponeuroses (ribbon-like tendinous expansion)
Fibroblasts:
- Spindled (along collagen fibers) to stellate (star shaped in myxoid areas)
- Produce various collagens
- Positive for vimentin, actin
Fibrocytes:
- Quiescent stage of fibroblasts
Myofibroblasts:
- Modified fibroblasts with multiple possible origins (see diagram below), including transition from fibroblasts during tissue repair (J Invest Dermatol 2007;127:526)
- Features are intermediate between fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells
Nerve
- Composed of axons, Schwann cells, perineurial cells and fibroblasts in epineurium (outer sheath)
- Perineurium: surrounds each nerve fascicle, is continuous with pia mater of CNS
- Perineurial cells: derived from fibroblasts; EMA+, S100-
- Schwann cells: neuroectodermally derived cells that resemble fibroblasts but strongly S100+, intimately related to axons (by EM), have continuous basal lamina that coats the cell facing the endoneurium
Microscopic (histologic) images
AFIP images
Myofibroma: interface
of myofibroblastic
tumor
with
normal collagen
Images hosted on other servers:
NIH / 3T3 mouse fibroblasts in cell culture
Extracellular matrix compliance
controls development of the
myofibroblast phenotype in
3 dimensional collagen gels
