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Human Cell and Systems. Semester 1. Embryology and Tissues Dr. S. Britland.
This lecture will reinforce the classification of tissue types according to their developmental origins, that is, differentiation of embryonic disc layers into ecto-, meso- and endoderm. The development of the nervous system will be used to illustrate how an organ systems develops from primitive body form to adulthood. All body cells fall into the following categories; tissue cells, blood cells, and reticulo-endothelial cells. The tissues comprise epithelia, connective tissues, muscle and nerve. Individual epithelial cells have distinct phenotype which reflects differentiation in function, including morphology. These are squamous, cuboidal, columnar and transitional types. The cells comprising different epithelial tissues is described as simple, stratified, and pseudostratified. In your private study ascertain which of these cell types occurs most frequently in different tissues. Blood cells are erythrocytes, platelets, granulocytes and agranulocytes. All are produced by erythropoietic stem cells located in the intima of the long bones and the axial skeleton. These stem cells differentiate to myeloid and lymphoid progenitor cells depending on the eventual cell lineage. The second tier of differentiation is represented by precursor cells, described by the collective term blast, for example lymphoblast. Megakaryocytes differentiate to become platelets by fractionation and loss of the nucleus. Granular leucocytes encompass neutrophils, basophils and eosinophils. Agranular leucocytes included monocytes, which when present in tissues differentiate to macrophages, and lymphocytes which occur in T and B forms. All except lymphocytes are formed from myeloid stem cells. All except erythrocytes serve to protect the body against infection and unwanted consequences of tissue damage or toxicity. Cells of the reticulo-endothlial cells are described by their name. These cells include macrophages, moncytes, mast cells, and microglia. Muscle cells are of three main forms; skeletal, cardiac and smooth. Within this classification skeletal muscle fibres can be described as fast/slow twitch, intraand extrafusal, and uni-, bi- or multipenate, depending on their phenotype. Nervous tissue comprises ependymal cells which line the ventricles of the brain and produce cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), neurons, and glial cells. The phenotypic
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and functional properties of neurons varies tremendously between the brain regions but the classification of patterns of neuronal connectivity within the brain is straightforward; association fibres connect different region on the same hemisphere, commissural fibres connect the same region on opposite hemispheres and projection fibres leave either hemisphere and connect to lower order neurons in the basal regions of the brain or spinal cord. Neurons often group togther in discreet foci called nuclei or the central nervous system (CNS) or ganglia in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The functions subserved by these collections of cells are generally either somatosensory (voluntary motor and sensory) or else are autonomic (involuntary motor and sensory). The last class of neuron are the internuncial or intercalatory neurons which bridge between motor (efferent) and sensory (afferent) input into the CNS and are involved in integration on neuronal function. Most authorities concur that the more numerous and complex the system of internuncial neurons the more complex the behaviour of the organism; in terms of volume fraction the human brain consists almost entirely of internuncial neurons.There are three classes of support cell (glia) within nervous tissue; astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia, and schwann cells. During development of the primitive body form in-utero ectodermal cells are induced by factors from the notochord to migrate inwards and round up to form the neural tube. This differentiation continues with further cells in the ventral horn of the spinal cord being induced towards motor function, cells in the lateral horn towards autonomic function and cells outside the CNS called the dorsal root ganglia towards sensory function. The basic sequence of events in neuronal development is formation of the neural tube that further segments into caudal (tail) and rostral (head) ends. The rostal end further differentiates into the cephalic region made up of prosencaphalon (forebrain), mesencephalon (midbrain) and rhombencehpalon (hindbrain). It is from the prosencephalon that the telencephalon forms the lobes of the brain and the diencephalons the midbrain structures such as the thalamus and hypothalamus. Correct patterns of connectivity are probably mediated by trophins called nerve growth factors release by target tissues of neurons but stabilisation of connectivity is probably mote complex relying on junctional complexes and persistence of use to be stable.

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