Top 20 Epithelial Facts
1.Histology is the study of tissues
2. Epithelial Tissue has closely packed cells, no blood supply and a high mitotic rate
3. The 3 surfaces of epithelial cells are the apical (free), lateral and basal
4. The basal surface is connected to a basement membrane
5. Epithelial cells are used for protection, absorption and secretion
6. Cell shapes found in epithelial tissue are squamous, cuboidal, columnar and transitional
7. The cells can be in a simple arrangement or a stratified arrangement
8. Cillia are longer projections used for movement of substances while microvilli are shorter
projections used for absorption
9. Goblet cells secrete substances
10. Keratin is a protective protein that covers stratified squamous epithelium
11. The nucleus is in the center of squamous and cuboidal cells but at the base of columnar
cells
12. Pseudo- means fake or false; pseudostratified means it looks like more than one layer but
there is only 1
13. The 2 types of epithelial tissue are covering & lining AND glandular
14.To name an epithelial tissue you first name the arrangement (simple or stratified) then the
shape (squamous, cuboidal or columnar)
15. When naming stratified tissue, the top layer of cells is used when determining the shape
16. Stratified cuboidal and stratified columnar are extremely rare
17. Simple Squamous is found in places that diffusion takes place (lungs)
18. Simple cuboidal and columnar are found where secretion and absorption take place (GI
tract, respiratory tract)
19. Stratified Squamous is found in places with a lot of wear and tear (skin)
20. Columnar cells are the only cells that can be pseudostratified