Soft tissue Tumors - Normal histology of soft tissue

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Soft tissue Tumors

Fibroblastic / myofibroblastic tumors of soft tissue

Normal histology of soft tissue

Reviewer: Komal Arora, M.D. (see Reviewers page)
Revised: 19 July 2012, last major update July 2012
Copyright: (c) 2003-2012, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.

General
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● Fibrous tissue consists of fibroblasts and extracellular matrix
● Extracellular matrix consists of collagen, elastin and ground substance

Fibrous tissue:
● Loose or dense
● Dense fibrous tissue includes tendons (connect muscle to bone), ligaments (connect bones or cartilage to each other), aponeuroses (ribbon like tendinous expansion)

Fibroblasts:
● Spindled (along collagen fibers) to stellate (star shaped-in myxoid areas)
● Produce various collagens
● Positive for vimentin, actin

Fibrocytes:
● Quiescent stage of fibroblasts

Myofibroblasts:
● Modified fibroblasts with multiple possible origins (see diagram below), including transition from fibroblasts during tissue repair (J Invest Dermatol 2007;127:526)
● Features are intermediate between fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells

Diagrams
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Myofibroblast progenitors

Micro images
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Extracellular matrix compliance controls development of the myofibroblast phenotype in three-dimensional collagen gels

NIH/3T3 Mouse fibroblasts in cell culture

Myofibroma: interface of myofibroblastic tumor with normal collagen

Additional references
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● Wikipedia-fibroblasts, Wikipedia-myofibroblasts, Am J Pathol 2007;170:1807

End of Soft Tissue Tumors > Fibroblastic / myofibroblastic tumors of soft tissue > Normal histology of soft tissue

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