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.
The thyroid gland is an endocrine organ located to the anterior lower portion of the neck. It is involved in regulation of metabolism and regulation of blood calcium level. Thyroid hormone is produced in response to elevated pituitary TSH levels. The other hormone produced by the thyroid gland, calcitonin, is produced in response to elevated blood calcium levels.
The thyroid gland has lobular organization. The numerous thyroid follicles form the secretory units of the thyroid gland. The follicles are spherical and lined with a single layer of cuboidal epithelial cells, follicularcells. Thyroglobulin is stored in homogenous eosinophilic colloid material which is typically abundant within the thyroid follicles. In response to increased blood TSH levels thyroid hormone is reabsorbed from the colloid and released into the blood. In addition to the dominating thyroid follicles, groups of cells with a slightly more eosinophilic cytoplasm are present, that resemble the calcitonin producing parafollicularcells.
As the thyroid gland is an endocrine organ it has a rich blood supply. A vascular network surrounds each follicle.