11.
Smooth muscle from colon. Observe two layers - the part on the left shows
longitudinal sections, that on the right shows transverse sections.
In the l.s., the spindle shaped cells are not quite obvious! This is because
they are crowded together, cell membranes are not distinct and of course,
our old friend, shrinkage, is not in evidence here.
Would you say that this looks deceptively similar to dense connective
tissue? Note the shapes of the nuclei - they are flat all right, but not as
flat as in dense CT.
Now pay attention to the t.s.. The spindle shaped cells fit together nicely,
so that the nucleus-containing part of one abuts against the narrow part of
another. The result - few of the cells show nuclei in any given section.
What are the
three large cells indicated by the arrows? Describe them!
