Related Concept Videos

Gross Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles01:12

Gross Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

The connective tissues play a significant role in arranging the muscle fibers into a hierarchical structure that forms a complete muscle. Consider a muscle like the bicep brachii, commonly called the bicep. This muscle comprises thousands of muscle fibers enclosed by a protective layer of connective tissue called the endomysium. The endomysium is primarily composed of reticular fibers, a type of thin collagen fiber. It allows the exchange of nutrients and waste products at the fiber level,...
Dense Connective Tissue01:13

Dense Connective Tissue

Dense connective tissue contains more collagen fibers than loose connective tissue. As a consequence, it displays greater resistance to stretching. There are two major categories of dense connective tissue— regular and irregular.
Dense Regular Connective Tissue
In dense regular connective tissue, fibers are arranged parallel to each other, enhancing its tensile strength and resistance to stretching in the direction of the fiber orientations. Ligaments and tendons are made of dense regular...
Overview of Muscle Tissues01:25

Overview of Muscle Tissues

The human body has three types of muscle tissue: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac. Each class has unique properties that enable them to perform specific functions. However, all muscle tissues share certain properties, including elasticity, contractility, and excitability. 
Elasticity
Elasticity is the ability of muscles to stretch and return to their original shape. This property is partly due to elastic fibers — macromolecules that run through the muscles. These fibers are firm and resilient,...
Overview of Connective Tissues Proper01:25

Overview of Connective Tissues Proper

Connective tissue proper is a class of connective tissue that encompasses all mature connective tissues except bone, cartilage, blood, and lymph. This extensive class of tissues has two subclasses — loose and dense connective tissues — classified based on the protein fiber arrangement and the amount of ground substance. 
The loose connective tissues have a meshwork of thin collagen and elastin fibers, which provide tensile strength for support and enough elasticity to move cells. They have...
Classification of Connective Tissues01:30

Classification of Connective Tissues

The connective tissues have different properties and functions in the human body. They are broadly categorized into proper, supporting, or fluid connective tissues.
Connective Tissue Proper
Connective tissue proper is the most abundant class of connective tissues. As its name implies, it predominantly connects different tissues in the body. Depending on the cell types, ground substance, viscosity, and fiber types in the ECM, connective tissue proper is further categorized into loose and dense.
Skeletal Muscle Anatomy00:55

Skeletal Muscle Anatomy

Skeletal muscle is the most abundant type of muscle in the body. Tendons are the connective tissue that attaches skeletal muscle to bones. Skeletal muscles pull on tendons, which in turn pull on bones to carry out voluntary movements.