On the welcome page of the dictionary, three major sections are shown: Normal tissues, Cancer and Cell structure. Below the image of each section are links to introductory texts for i) normal tissue histology, ii) hallmarks of cancer, and iii) cell structure overview. For the cancer-section there is also a link to current cancer statistics (incidence, survival, etc) for Sweden and the rest of the world. Within each section there are direct links to histology descriptions of different tissue types and tumor forms as well as descriptions of cell structures.
For the 'Tissue & cell types' and 'Tumor' sections, tissue-slides stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) are shown at three different levels of magnification. On the top level, an overview of the whole tissue-sample is shown with boxes in black indicating where zoomed-in representative parts of the tissue are available for viewing. Clicking on these boxes will zoom in on that part to show tissue structures, cells and features in greater detail. Throughout these sections, arrows indicate relevant tissue structures, cell-types and other features.
For the 'Cell structure' section, immunofluorescent images of formaldehyde-fixed cell lines are shown. The various cell structures that are demonstrated are always shown in the green channel using an antibody found in the Human Protein Atlas. The antibody name is linked to the subcellular location summary page of the target gene. The other channels: nucleus, microtubules and endoplasmic reticulum, are always shown in the blue, red and yellow channels, respectively. The channels can be toggled on and off by clicking on the respective coloured button above the image. When applicable, the immunofluorescent images are complemented by immunohistochemically stained cells where the location of the particular cell structure is shown in brown.
A common feature for all sections is that a general descriptive text about the tissue, tumor-type or cell structure is provided when browsing a particular topic.
Smooth muscle is represented from the stomach wall.
Smoothmuscletissue is defined as a non-striated muscle tissue comprising involuntary contractile elements surrounding tissues and structures where contraction is part of normal function. The main cell type in smooth muscle tissue is the smooth muscle cell, which similar to myocytes in skeletal and cardiac muscle, predominatly contains actin and myosin proteins. Parenchymal smooth muscle cells are homogenous and tightly arranged together as larger muscular layers that can propagate movement. Parenchymal smooth muscle typically surrounds and forms an integrated part of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and urogenital tract. The main component of the uterus is also smooth muscle tissue, which allows for contraction and normal function at parturition (child birth). Smooth muscle is also a vital component of the vasculature, where more heterogeneous smooth muscle cells are located around blood vessels to control the flow of blood. Histologically, smooth muscle cells exhibit a fairly large cytoplasm with indistinct borders and have single blunt-ended oval nuclei.
