HUMAN HISTOLOGY – SEMI FINALS epidermis to the dermis.

The epidermal papillae which are

INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM in a way also connects the dermis to the epidermis.
Made by: Andrea A. Almohallas of BS MLS 2F
FUNCTIONS OF THE SKIN
SKIN - Protective
➢ Epidermis - Sensory
➢ Dermis - Thermoregulatory
- Metabolic
EPIDERMAL DERIVATIVES OF THE SKIN - Sexual signaling
➢ Hair follicles and hair
➢ Sweat (sudoriferous) glands Note: The unbroken skin is considered as the first line of
➢ Sebaceous glands defense against any infection whether its viral, bacterial,
➢ Nails fungal and any infectious microorganism, our first line of
defense is our unbroken skin. The skin allows you to feel
SKIN tactile objects, sensory. Thermal regulatory has
- Largest single organ of the body something to do with the production of sweat. As part of
- Composed of homeostasis, when the body temperature increases, our
✓ Epidermis – an epithelial layer of ectodermal sweat glands become more active than ever, to cool
origin down, to lower the temperature of the body. We have your
✓ Dermis – a layer of mesodermal connective metabolic because your skin cell synthesizes what is
tissue called vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 is a precursor of your
vitamin D and vitamin D is an important regulator of
calcium metabolism and proper bone formation, so
vitamin D is usually broken down by UV light in the skin
and then it travels to the kidney to be converted to the
active form of vitamin D which is the one that regulates
metabolism. Pheromone is the sort of scent, more like its
chemicals, these are chemicals basically in animals
pheromones are chemicals produced by animals to attract
their mates for the purpose of reproduction, so sex
pheromones are usually produced by your apocrine sweat
glands and other skin glands.

EPIDERMIS
- Consists mainly of a stratified squamous keratinized
epithelium composed of cells called keratinocytes.
- Cells:
✓ Keratinocytes
✓ Langerhan cells – skin macrophage
✓ Melanocytes – the one that tends too be an issue
because it produced melanin
✓ Merkel cells – sensory cell

Note: Epidermis is the one that we can directly observe

physically and then we have the dermis, which is the
thickest layer divided into the papillary and reticular layer.
There is another third layer, and it would vary from person
to person because the subcutaneous layer would depend
on the amount of adipose tissue present in this layer. The
epidermal ridges which are otherwise extension of the
 - Prickle cells
Note: The epidermis is derived from the ectoderm and of
epithelial type specifically it is composed of stratified
squamous keratinized epithelium and we call these cells
keratinocytes because they’re different from other
epithelial cells due to their production of the protein
keratin.

THICK SKIN
- Palms and soles

THIN SKIN
- Elsewhere on the body
• Stratum basale
• Stratum spinosum
• Stratum granulosum Note: The synthesis of large amount of keratin would give
• Stratum lucidum the cell this spiny extensions, so that’s why its called
• Stratum corneum spinosum. The epidermis of thick skin that is usually
subject to continuous friction and pressure especially
Note: Epithelial tissues are avascular so the stratified found in the soles of your foot, has a thicker stratum
squamous epidermis lacks microvasculature. The spinosum with more abundant tonofibrils and lesser
epidermis is its just very thick stratified squamous substance. Tonofibrils is the precursor for your keratin.
epithelium layer and it does not have blood vessel. If you The secretion of keratin is increasing so there are more
have thin skin, because there are areas of the body where tonofibrils on both sides of each desmosome so it causes
you have thin skin, we call this thin skin your epidermis is the cell to shrink and tonofibrils would go out of the cell.
only composed by five layers. So, if you notice, the cells
would receive nutrients and oxygen by diffusion from the Granular layer (stratum granulosum)
dermis. The capillaries are in the dermis. - Keratinocytes in this layer contain numerous
keratohyalin granules
- Lamellar granules

Note: Lamellar granules are important in the aggregation

of your keratin filaments. You have to bundle the
tonofibrils in order to form the keratin. Keratin then is
stored in a structure in the cells of your stratum
granulosum known as keratohyalin granules. Aside from
the keratohyalin granules, we also have the lamellar
granules, are cysteine rich and histidine rich proteins
considered as the precursors of the protein filaggrin.
Filaggrin would aggregate your keratin filament, it is the
protein that would bundle them up. Lamellar granules,
LAYERS OF THE EPIDERMIS when released by a process of exocytosis, they would
Basal Layer (stratum basale) usually produce a layer which is lipid rich around the cell.
- A single layer of basophilic cuboidal or columnar cells. This layer is very important in the skin’s ability to retain
- Characterized by intense mitotic activity and contains water or prevent water loss. Skin is very important in
progenitor cells for all the epidermal layers. protecting you from not just infectious agent, but it also
- Important feature – cytoskeletal keratins protects us from desiccation or total drying up. This layer
formed by the lamellar granules, since this is lipid in
Note: It is the source of your skin cells. This is the alive nature, water cannot easily pass through so it allows the
skin cells, so they are the ones that start synthesis of what skin to retain as much water as it can to maintain the water
is called cytoskeletal keratins. volume in the human body.

Spinous layer (stratum spinosum)

- Thickest layer, especially in the epidermal ridges
- Synthesis of much keratin and other proteins takes
place.
- Characteristically exhibit spinous processes
 Stratum lucidum
- Consists of a thin, translucent layer of flattened
eosinophilic keratinocytes held together by
desmosomes.
Note: In the granular layer, we have the keratohyalin
- Considered a subdivision of the stratum corneum.
granules where the keratin are stored or packed, and then
- Only well seen in thick skin.
we have your lamellar granules which are if released, they
will form what is called water barrier.
Stratum corneum
- Most differentiated cells in the skin.
• MELANOCYTES
- Layers of squamous, keratinized cells filled with
- Neural crest-derived
birefringent filamentous keratins
- A dendritic cell that is scattered among the basal cells
- Squames
of the stratum basale.
- Top most layer
- Produce and distribute melanin into keratinocytes.
- Cells that produce the protein melanin, the pigment,
Note: The stratum corneum is a layer of dead skin cells,
the one that give our skin a pigment.
Only the layer near the dermis is receiving nutrients. As
the cell progresses towards the top most layer, it begins
to die, and those dead keratinized, they are basically not
metabolically active anymore because the cytoplasm is
just full of keratin (fully-keratinized) because we call those
cells as squames. We continuously shed them as the
desmosome and lipid rich cell envelopes break down.

- Melanosomes

Note: Those leaving the living keratinocytes are those

Note: Tyrosine is the precursor of melanin. Its catalyzed
nearer. Most them are found in the stratum basale. They
by tyrosinase which is an enzyme. Tyrosinase will then
are nearer to the epidermis.
convert tyrosine into your dihydroxyphenylalanine
(DOPA). DOPA is then further transformed and
CELLS IN THE EPIDERMIS
polymerized into the different forms of melanin. Melanin
• KERATINOCYTES
pigment is linked to a matrix of structural proteins and
- Predominant cell type of the epidermis accumulates in the vesicles until they form mature
elliptical granules. Those granules that contain melanin
are called melanosomes.
• LANGERHANS CELL while the dermal papillae are the projections of the dermis
- Dendritic-appearing, antigen presenting cells in the and to the epidermis.
epidermis.
- It processes characteristic, tennis racquet-shaped
Birbeck granules.
- Most clearly seen in the spinous layer.

Note: These are your skin macrophage. LAYERS OF THE DERMIS

• PAPILLARY LAYER
• MERKEL CELLS - Thin
- Epithelial tactile cells - Includes the dermal papillae
- Function is cutaneous sensation - Consists of loose connective tissue
- Abundant in highly sensitive skin like that of fingertips - Types I and III collagen fibers, fibroblasts and
and at the bases of some hair follicles scattered mast cells, macrophages, and other
- Located in the stratum basale leukocytes.

Note: These are important in our ability to feel textures. Note: The topmost layer of the dermis is the papillary
layer. It supports the epidermis.
DERMIS
- Layer of connective tissue that supports the epidermis • RETICULAR LAYER
and binds it to the subcutaneous tissue (hypodermis) - Much thicker
- Subpapillary plexus - Consists of dense irregular connective tissue
- Layers: - More fibers and fewer cells than the papillary layer
✓ Papillary Layer - A network of elastic fibers is also present
✓ Reticular Layer
Note: “Irregular”, the fibers go into various direction to
Note: Between the papillary layer and reticular layer, there allow or accommodate forces from any direction.
lies the musculovascular subpapillary plexus from which
the capillary branches, extend into the dermal papillae SUBCUTANEOUS TISSUE
and form a rich nutritive capillary network just below the - Hypodermis or superficial fascia
dermis. This is where you can find your capillaries. - Consists of loose connective tissue that binds the skin
loosely to the subjacent organs, making it possible for
the skin to slide over them.
- Contains adipocytes
- Extensive vascular supply

Note: Due to the extensive vascular supply of the

subcutaneous layer, this is where the target of when you
have insulin injected.

SENSORY RECEPTORS
Note: These interdigitations are considered peg and UNENCAPSULATED
socket in our skin. We call this dermal epidermal - Merkel cells
interdigitation, occur as well-formed ridges and grooves in - Free nerve endings
the thick skin of the palms and soles. This is the reason - Root hair plexuses
why we have footprints and fingerprints. These ridges, the
intervening so high, form distinctive patterns unique for ENCAPSULATED
each individual appearing as combination of loops, arches - Meissner corpuscles
and holes which we call dermatoglyphs or more - Lamellated (Pacinian) corpuscles
commonly known as footprints or fingerprints. Epidermal
- Krause end bulbs
ridges is the extension of the epidermis to the dermis
- Ruffini corpuscles
Note: Sensory receptors are receiver for various stimuli
from the environment. In encapsulated, there are four
recognizing human skin but only two can be seen in
histological preparation.

Note: Hair is very sensitive. Root hair plexus are sensory

fibers around the base of your hair follicles that detects
the movement of the hair.

ENCAPSULATED SENSORY RECEPTORS

• MEISSNER CORPUSLCES
- Elliptical structures, consisting of sensory axons
winding among flattened Schwann cells arranged
perpendicular to the epidermis in the dermal papillae
- Touch receptors
- Responsive to low frequency stimuli in the papillary
layer of hairless skin.

Note: The encapsulated one are those three nerve

endings while the capsulated one, we have a capsule
which could be a Schwann cell or a terminal. These are
nerve tissues.

UNENCAPSULATED SENSORY RECEPTORS

• MERKEL CELLS
- Tonic receptors for sustained light touch and for
sensing an object’s texture. Note: Lips, palmar and volar surfaces (fingers and toes)
- Tactile disc are your hairless skin.

• PACINIAN CORPUSCLES
- Large oval structures with an outer capsule and 15-
50 thin, concentric lamellae of flattened Schwann
cells and collagen surrounding a highly branched,
unmyelinated axon.
- Found deep in the reticular dermis and hypodermis
- Wall of the rectum and urinary bladder
- Specialized for sensing coarse touch, pressure
• FREE NERVE ENDINGS (sustained touch), and vibrations.
- Most numerous neuronal receptors in the epidermis
- Terminate in the stratum granulosum
- Respond primarily to high and low temperatures,
pain, and itching, but also function as tactile
receptors.

Note: They are not covered by a connective tissue or a

Schwann cell so that’s why they are free.

• ROOT HAIR PLEXUSES Note: The Pacinian looks like a bulb. It is an oval structure
- A web of sensory fibers surrounding the bases of hair that forms like a concentric lamellae around an
follicles in the reticular dermis that detects unmyelinated axon. It is accessible when there is a very
movements of the hairs. sustained touch or pressure. This particular sensory
receptor specializes in sensing horse touch (pressure and - Base of the bulb is invaginated by a tuft of
vibration). vascularized loose connective tissue = dermal papilla
- These cells form the matrix of the elongating hair root
• KRAUSE END BULBS - The part of a hair extending beyond the skin surface
- Simpler encapsulated, ovoid structures, with = hair shaft
extremely thin, collagenous capsules penetrated by a
sensory fiber. Hair Follicle – responsible for the production and growth
- Found primarily in the skin of the penis and clitoris of hair
where they sense low frequency vibration.
- Genital corpuscles

• RUFFINI CORPUSCLES
- Collagenous, fusiform capsules anchored firmly to the Note: Unlike the renewal of the surface epidermis, your
surrounding connective tissue. growth is not continuous. It starts with a period of broad
known as Anagen and then we have the growth a period
- Respond to stretch and torque
of hull where the growth is hull or Catagen and then a long
rest period known as telogen. Eventually, it goes back
again (cycle).

Note: When you pinch someone, your Ruffini corpuscle

detects that. It also detects warm temperature. Krause
end bulbs and Ruffini are kind of opposites because
Krause detects called as a thermos receptor while Ruffini
is more on detecting warm temperature.
Note: In most thick hairs, large vacuolated moderately
form the central medulla. It is where heavily keratinized
EPIDERMAL DERIVATIVES OF THE SKIN
cells are found. Heavily keratinized densely packed cells
make up the cortex around the medulla, and the most
peripheral cell of the hair would comprise. This can
usually be seen by a cross-sectional of a hair or cells of
the hair would comprise the cuticle, a thin layer of heavily
keratinized squamous cells covering the cortex. Around
the cortex, the cuticle would also be divided into internal
root sheet and external root sheet.

NAIL
- Hard plates of keratin on the dorsal surface of each
distal phalanx.

HAIR
- Elongated keratinized structures that form within
epidermal invaginations, the hair follicles.
- Growing hair follicle has a terminal dilation = hair bulb
Note: The proximal part of the nail is the nail root from
which the epidermal stratum corneal extends as the
cuticle or eponychium. The nail plate is bound to a bed of
epidermis which is known as the nail bed. The nail plate
and that epidermal layer which bounds the nail plate is
known as the nail bed, which contains only the basal and SWEAT GLANDS
spinosadermal layers. The nail root would form from the • ECCRINE SWEAT GLANDS
nail matrix divide and move distally and become - Widely distributed in the skin and are most numerous
keratinized in a process somewhat similar to hairy on the foot soles
formation but without keratohyaline granules. - Secretory part is stratified cuboidal epithelium (highly
eosinophilic)
SEBACEOUS GLADS
- Embedded in the dermis over most of the body, SWEATING
except in the skin of the palms and soles. - A physiological response to increased body
- Branched acinar glands with several acini converging temperature during physical exercise or thermal
at a short duct that usually empties into the upper stress.
portion of a hair follicle. - Most effective means of temperature regulation of
- A hair follicle and its associated sebaceous glands humans.
make up a pilosebaceous unit.
- Holocrine secretion
- Sebocytes -cells
- Sebum – chemical released

Note: The stem cell niche of the follicles bulbs region also
forms the progenitor cells of the associated sebaceous
glands. In certain hairless regions such as the penis,
clitoris, eyelids, nipples, your sebaceous ducts open
directly into the epidermal surface. If its in the
pilosebaceous unit, it acts as a lubricant of the hair. Note: The sweat flows continuous in the spiraling channel
Sebum is a complex mixture of lipids that includes wax, through the five epidermal strata but excretory sweat pore
esters, squalene, cholesterol and triglycerides that are in the skin surface. There is a sweat pore which is
hydrolyzed by bacterial enzymes after secretion. sometimes connected in the hair shaft.
Secretion from sebaceous gland increases greatly at
puberty stimulated primarily by testosterone in men and • APOCRINE SWEAT GLANDS
by variant and adrenal androgens in women. Sebum - Largely confined to skin of the axillary and perineal
helps maintain the stratum corneum in hair shafts and region
exerts weak antibacterial and antifungal properties. - Production of pheromones (human smell)
- Merocrine secretion
 WOUND HEALING
• Granulation tissue
- Collagen-rich, well vascularized tissue in the dermis,
which gradually replaces the blood clot
- Undergoes remodeling

Note: The secretory components of your apocrine glands

have much larger lumens than those of the eccrine. Unlike
your eccrine which is irregular stratified cuboidal, your
eccrine glands consist of simple cuboidal cells. The ducts
are similar to those of your eccrine but for your apocrine,
they will open into a hair follicle.

WOUND HEALING

Note: The first step is blood clotting at the wound site. It is

very important because it would release your platelet
derived growth factors and other substances and this
would also call in your inflammatory reaction so it would
recruit your macrophages and neutrophils to enter the
wound as inflammation would begin and epithelial cells
from the cut edges of the stratum basale, they begin to
migrate beneath and through the blood clot.

Note: Under the influence of the growth factors and your

hydrolytic enzymes released in part from macrophages,
fibroblasts proliferate and produce much new collagen to
form the granulation tissue. It will then contain many new
growing capillaries. The epidermis gradually
reestablishes continuity over the wound site but if there is
an excessive collagen, they would remain a structure
known as scarred tissue in your dermis.