Stroma (animal tissue)
Encyclopedia
In animal tissue, stroma (from Greek
στρῶμα, meaning “bed, bed covering”) refers to the connective, supportive framework of a biological cell
, tissue
, or organ
.
The stroma in animal tissue is contrasted with the parenchyma
.
Examples include:
Stromal cells are the non-tumor cells in tumors.
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
στρῶμα, meaning “bed, bed covering”) refers to the connective, supportive framework of a biological cell
Cell (biology)
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
, tissue
Biological tissue
Tissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. A tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function. These are called tissues because of their identical functioning...
, or organ
Organ (anatomy)
In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in structural unit to serve a common function. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues . The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ. For example, main tissue in the heart is the myocardium, while sporadic are...
.
The stroma in animal tissue is contrasted with the parenchyma
Parenchyma
Parenchyma is a term used to describe a bulk of a substance. It is used in different ways in animals and in plants.The term is New Latin, f. Greek παρέγχυμα - parenkhuma, "visceral flesh", f. παρεγχεῖν - parenkhein, "to pour in" f. para-, "beside" + en-, "in" + khein, "to pour"...
.
Examples include:
- Stroma of irisStroma of irisThe stroma of the iris consists of fibers and cells.The former are made up of delicate bundles of fibrous tissue; a few fibers at the circumference of the iris have a circular direction; but the majority radiate toward the pupil, forming by their interlacement delicate meshes in which the vessels...
- stroma of cornea
- Stroma of ovaryStroma of ovaryThe stroma of the ovary is a peculiar soft tissue, abundantly supplied with blood vessels, consisting for the most part of spindle-shaped cells with a small amount of ordinary connective tissue....
- stroma of thyroid gland
- stroma of thymusThymusThe thymus is a specialized organ of the immune system. The thymus produces and "educates" T-lymphocytes , which are critical cells of the adaptive immune system....
- Stroma of bone marrow
Stromal cells are the non-tumor cells in tumors.