What makes dense connective tissue different from loose connective tissue? What are the two different permutations of dense connective tissue; what does each permutation do in the body?
Dense connective tissue has a much smaller quantity of connective tissue cells relative to loose connective tissue. Dense connective tissue consists of very compactly grouped fibers and has much less ground substance than loose connective tissue. Two permutations of dense connective tissue exist. As an interwoven network of irregularly-arranged fibers, dense connective tissue forms the sheath over bones and the dermis of the skin. As parallel bundles of regularly-arranged fibers, dense connective tissue forms tendons which connect muscle to bone and ligaments which connect bone to bone.
