Stroma () is the part of a tissue or organ with a structural or connective role. It is made up of all the parts without specific functions of the organ - for example, connective tissue, blood vessels, ducts, etc. The other part, the

parenchyma Parenchyma () is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ or structure such as a tumour. In zoology it is the name for the tissue that fills the interior of flatworms. Etymology The term ''parenchyma'' is New Latin from the word π ...

, consists of the cells that perform the function of the tissue or organ. There are multiple ways of classifying tissues: one classification scheme is based on tissue functions and another analyzes their cellular components. Stromal tissue falls into the "functional" class that contributes to the body's support and movement. The cells which make up stroma tissues serve as a matrix in which the other cells are embedded. Stroma is made of various types of

stromal cell Stromal cells, or mesenchymal stromal cells, are differentiating cells found in abundance within bone marrow but can also be seen all around the body. Stromal cells can become connective tissue cells of any organ, for example in the uterine mucosa ...

s. Examples of stroma include: *

stroma of iris The stroma of the iris is a fibrovascular layer of tissue. It is the upper layer of two in the iris. Structure The stroma is a delicate interlacement of fibres. Some circle the circumference of the iris and the majority radiate toward the pupi ...

stroma of cornea The stroma of the cornea (or substantia propria) is a fibrous, tough, unyielding, perfectly transparent and the thickest layer of the cornea of the eye. It is between Bowman's membrane anteriorly, and Descemet's membrane posteriorly. At its centr ...

stroma of ovary The stroma of the ovary is a unique type of connective tissue abundantly supplied with blood vessels, consisting for the most part of spindle-shaped stroma cells. These appear similar to fibroblasts. The stroma also contains ordinary connective tis ...

* stroma of

thyroid gland The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobe (anatomy), lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of Connective tissue, tissue cal ...

* stroma of

thymus The thymus is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, thymus cell lymphocytes or ''T cells'' mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts to specific foreign invaders. ...

* stroma of bone marrow *

lymph node stromal cell Lymph node stromal cells are essential to the structure and function of the lymph node whose functions include: creating an internal tissue scaffold for the support of hematopoietic cells; the release of small molecule chemical messengers that facil ...

* multipotent stromal cell (mesenchymal stem cell)

Structure

Stromal connective tissues are found in the stroma; this tissue belongs to the group connective tissue proper. The function of connective tissue proper is to secure the

l tissue, including blood vessels and nerves of the stroma, and to construct organs and spread mechanical

tension Tension may refer to: Science * Psychological stress * Tension (physics), a force related to the stretching of an object (the opposite of compression) * Tension (geology), a stress which stretches rocks in two opposite directions * Voltage or el ...

to reduce localised stress. Stromal tissue is primarily made of

extracellular matrix In biology, the extracellular matrix (ECM), also called intercellular matrix, is a three-dimensional network consisting of extracellular macromolecules and minerals, such as collagen, enzymes, glycoproteins and hydroxyapatite that provide stru ...

containing connective tissue cells. Extracellular matrix is primarily composed of

ground substance Ground substance is an amorphous gel-like substance in the extracellular space that contains all components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) except for fibrous materials such as collagen and elastin. Ground substance is active in the development, m ...

- a porous, hydrated gel, made mainly from

proteoglycan Proteoglycans are proteins that are heavily glycosylated. The basic proteoglycan unit consists of a "core protein" with one or more covalently attached glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chain(s). The point of attachment is a serine (Ser) residue to whic ...

aggregates - and connective tissue fibers. There are three types of fibers commonly found within the stroma:

collagen type I Type I collagen is the most abundant collagen of the human body. It forms large, eosinophilic fibers known as collagen fibers. It is present in scar tissue, the end product when tissue heals by repair, as well as tendons, ligaments, the endo ...

elastic Elastic is a word often used to describe or identify certain types of elastomer, elastic used in garments or stretchable fabrics. Elastic may also refer to: Alternative name * Rubber band, ring-shaped band of rubber used to hold objects togeth ...

, and

reticular In chemistry and biology a cross-link is a bond or a short sequence of bonds that links one polymer chain to another. These links may take the form of covalent bonds or ionic bonds and the polymers can be either synthetic polymers or natural ...

(collagen type III) fibres.

Cells

Wandering cell In anatomy and histology, the term wandering cell (or ameboid cell)ameboid+cell
at

s - cells that migrate into the tissue from blood stream in response to a variety of stimuli; for example, immune system blood cells causing inflammatory response. * Fixed cells - cells that are permanent inhabitants of the tissue. *

Fibroblast A fibroblast is a type of cell (biology), biological cell that synthesizes the extracellular matrix and collagen, produces the structural framework (Stroma (tissue), stroma) for animal Tissue (biology), tissues, and plays a critical role in wound ...

- produce and secrete the organic parts of the ground substance and extracellular fibers of the matrix.

Types

# Loose connective tissue - This type is mainly located under the

epithelial Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellula ...

membranes and glandular epithelium, attaching the epithelia to other tissues. It supports the blood vessels and nerves supplied to the epithelia. Additionally, it serves as the main site of

inflammatory response Inflammation (from la, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, and is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molecu ...

within the body. # Dense irregular connective tissue - the function of this type is binding at a high tensile strength between tissues to convert tension from one point.

References

External links

{{Authority control Tissues (biology)