Abstract
The dermal connective tissue plays a crucial role in the supply of nutrients to the epidermis and skin appendages, as well as in the protective function of the skin, contributing to mechanical resistance and elasticity. It is anchored to the epidermis through the basement membrane, and continues deep into the subcutis. With a thickness of 1–5 mm, depending on the body region, it accounts for 15–20% of body weight. Like any interstitial connective tissue, it consists of cells and an extracellular matrix, with fibers. The most abundant cells, the fibroblasts, produce the molecular components of the extracellular matrix, including the fibers. The dermis also contains mast cells, histiocytes, macrophages, lymphocytes, capillaries, arterioles, venules, lymph vessels, and nerves. Apart from its structural function, the dermal connective tissue is a reservoir for proteases, growth factors, and cytokines. It plays a major role in wound healing, and in the pathophysiology of several genetic and acquired disorders.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aumailley M (2013) The laminin family. Cell Adhes Migr 7:48–55
Baldwin AK, Simpson A, Steer R et al (2013) Elastic fibres in health and disease. Expert Rev Mol Med 15:e8
Driskell RR, Watt FM (2015) Understanding fibroblast heterogeneity in the skin. Trends Cell Biol 25:92–99
Halper J, Kjaer M (2014) Basic components of connective tissues and extracellular matrix: elastin, fibrillin, fibulins, fibrinogen, fibronectin, laminin, tenascins and thrombospondins. Adv Exp Med Biol 802:31–47
Janson DG, Saintigny G, van Adrichem A et al (2012) Different gene expression patterns in human papillary and reticular fibroblasts. J Invest Dermatol 132:2565–2572
Kalluri R (2016) The biology and function of fibroblasts in cancer. Nat Rev Cancer 16:582–598
Krieg T, Aumailley M (2011) The extracellular matrix of the dermis: flexible structures with dynamic functions. Exp Dermatol 20:689–695
Nyström A (2016) Collagens in wound healing. In: Ågren MS (ed) Wound healing biomaterials. vol 2: Functional biomaterials. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 172–201
Philippeos C, Telerman SB, Oulès B, Pisco AO, Shaw TJ, Elgueta R, Lombardi G, Driskell RR, Soldin M, Lynch MD, Watt FM (2018) Spatial and single-cell transcriptional profiling identifies functionally distinct human dermal fibroblast subpopulations. J Invest Dermatol 138(4):811–825
Ricard-Blum S (2011) The collagen family. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 3:a004978
Rognoni E, Watt FM (2018) Skin cell heterogeneity in development, wound healing, and cancer. Trends Cell Biol 28(9):709–722
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Has, C. (2022). Connective Tissue Diseases: Introduction. In: Plewig, G., French, L., Ruzicka, T., Kaufmann, R., Hertl, M. (eds) Braun-Falco´s Dermatology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-63709-8_50
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-63709-8_50
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-63708-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-63709-8
eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine