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Related Concept Videos

Classification of Epithelial Tissues: Overview01:22

Classification of Epithelial Tissues: Overview

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Epithelial tissues are classified according to the shape of the cells and the number of cell layers formed. Cell shapes can be squamous (flattened and thin), cuboidal (square-like, as wide as it is tall), or columnar (rectangular, taller than it is wide). Additionally, the nucleus shape helps identify the type of epithelial cells. Squamous cells have flattened disc-shaped nuclei, cuboidal cells have spherical nuclei, and columnar cells have elongated nuclei.
Based on the number of cell layers,...
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Classification of Epithelial Tissues: Stratified Epithelium01:29

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Stratified epithelium consists of several stacked layers of cells. They provide the durability to withstand constant physical and chemical attacks. Stratified epithelium is named after the shape of the most apical layer of cells. Stratified squamous epithelium is the most common type found in the human body. In this tissue, the apical cells are squamous, whereas the basal layer contains either columnar or cuboidal cells. The basal cells divide to form new daughter cells, which gradually become...
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Tissues01:18

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Cells with similar structure and function are grouped into tissues. A group of tissues with a specialized function is called an organ. There are four main types of tissue in vertebrates: epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous.
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Tissues01:25

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Tissues are a group of cells that share a common embryonic origin. Microscopic observation reveals that the cells in a tissue share morphological features and are arranged in an orderly pattern to perform specific functions. From an evolutionary perspective, tissues appear in more complex organisms. Although there are many types of cells in the human body, they are organized into four broad categories of tissues: epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous. Each of these categories is...
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Classification of Epithelial Tissues: Simple Epithelium01:30

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Simple epithelium consists of a single layer of cells that lines body cavities and blood vessels. The shape of the cells in the epithelium reflects the function of the tissue. Cells in simple squamous epithelium appear as thin scales with flat, elliptical nuclei that mirror the form of the cell.
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Epithelial Tissues and Their Functions01:23

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Epithelial tissues are large sheets of cells covering all of the surfaces of the body. These surfaces can be internal or external, for example, skin, airways, the digestive tract, the urinary system, and the reproductive system. Hollow organs and body cavities that do not connect to the body's exterior, including blood vessels and serous membranes, are lined by epithelial tissue known as the endothelium.
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Engineering Three-dimensional Epithelial Tissues Embedded within Extracellular Matrix
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The complex three-dimensional organization of epithelial tissues.

Pedro Gómez-Gálvez1,2, Pablo Vicente-Munuera1,2, Samira Anbari3

  • 1Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla and Departamento de Biología Celular, Universidad de Sevilla, 41013 Seville, Spain.

Development (Cambridge, England)
|January 7, 2021
PubMed
Summary

Realistic tissue organization models require scutoidal cell shapes. Incorporating these apico-basal intercalations improves understanding of epithelial development and morphogenetic events.

Keywords:
Apico-basal cell intercalationBiophysical modelingCell shapeMathematical modelingScutoidThree-dimensional cell packing

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental biology
  • Cellular organization
  • Tissue morphogenesis

Background:

  • Understanding tissue cellular organization is crucial for developmental biology.
  • Epithelial tissues are often simplified as 2D polygonal tessellations or 3D prismatic blocks.
  • This simplification limits the explanation of complex tissue bending and folding in organogenesis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide an historical perspective on tissue organization research.
  • To analyze breakthroughs in understanding epithelial tissue structure.
  • To demonstrate the necessity of scutoidal cell shapes in realistic computational models.

Main Methods:

  • Review of historical and recent research in tissue organization.
  • Analysis of 2D polygonal tessellation models.
  • Development and evaluation of 3D computational models incorporating scutoidal cell shapes.

Main Results:

  • 2D models are insufficient for explaining 3D tissue folding and organogenesis.
  • Apico-basal intercalations, leading to scutoidal cell shapes, are essential for realistic modeling.
  • Simplified yet realistic computational models benefit from including scutoidal features.

Conclusions:

  • Realistic modeling of epithelial tissue organization requires incorporating scutoidal cell shapes.
  • Apico-basal intercalations are key to understanding morphogenetic events in 3D.
  • Scutoidal features enhance the explanatory power of computational models in developmental biology.