Histology

White fat stores energy in a single droplet; brown fat generates heat

A memory aid for white and brown adipose tissue.

Glomerulosa makes aldosterone, fasciculata makes cortisol, reticularis makes androgens

A mnemonic for the three zones of the adrenal cortex and their products.

Cartilage, glands, goblet cells and cilia all disappear distally

A memory aid for how the airway wall changes as it divides.

Type I pneumocytes cover the surface, type II make surfactant, macrophages clean up

A mnemonic for the cell types lining the alveolus.

Basal lamina of lamina lucida and lamina densa, plus a reticular lamina

A memory aid for the layers and role of the basement membrane.

Tight junctions, basement membrane and astrocyte foot processes

A memory aid for the components of the blood brain barrier.

Each morphological abnormality points to a specific diagnosis

A memory aid for the diagnostic features on a blood film.

Tunica intima, media and adventitia, in differing proportions by vessel type

A memory aid for the three layers of a vessel wall.

Alveolar epithelium, fused basement membranes, capillary endothelium

A memory aid for the layers gas crosses between alveolus and capillary.

Osteons of concentric lamellae around a central canal

A memory aid for the microscopic structure of bone.

Red marrow is haematopoietic; yellow marrow is fat

A memory aid for marrow structure and the sites of blood formation.

Osteoblasts build, osteoclasts resorb, coupled through RANK ligand

A memory aid for the hormonal control of bone turnover.

Compact bone in osteons, cancellous bone in trabeculae

A memory aid for compact and cancellous bone and their organisation.

Fifteen to twenty lobes, each draining by a lactiferous duct to the nipple

A memory aid for the internal structure of the breast.

Continuous, fenestrated and sinusoidal, in increasing permeability

A memory aid for the three capillary types and their permeability.

Branching striated fibres with central nuclei and intercalated discs

A memory aid for identifying cardiac muscle microscopically.

Cardiac muscle is a functional syncytium with a long refractory period and cannot tetanise

A memory aid for the differences between cardiac and skeletal muscle.

Hyaline, elastic and fibrocartilage, differing in fibre content

A memory aid for the three types of cartilage.

Tight junctions seal, adherens and desmosomes anchor, gap junctions communicate

A mnemonic for the types of intercellular junction.

A phospholipid bilayer with proteins floating in it

A memory aid for the fluid mosaic model of the plasma membrane.

Nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, mitochondria, lysosomes and peroxisomes

A memory aid for the organelles and what each does.

Labile, stable and permanent cell populations

A memory aid for classifying tissues by their capacity to regenerate.

Molecular, Purkinje and granular, from surface inwards

A memory aid for the three layers of the cerebellar cortex.

Organ of Corti for hearing, maculae and cristae for balance

A memory aid for the sensory epithelium of the inner ear.

Hydroxylation requires vitamin C, then glycosylation, triple helix formation and cross-linking

A memory aid for the steps of collagen production.

Type I bone and skin, II cartilage, III reticular, IV basement membrane

A mnemonic for the main collagen types and where each is found.

H and E for routine work, with special stains for specific components

A memory aid for the common stains and what each demonstrates.

Cells, fibres and ground substance

A memory aid for the constituents of connective tissue.

Epithelium, Bowman layer, stroma, Descemet membrane, endothelium

A mnemonic for the five layers of the cornea.

Cytology examines individual cells; histology examines tissue architecture

A memory aid for the difference between cytology and histology.

Microfilaments, intermediate filaments and microtubules, in increasing size

A memory aid for the three cytoskeletal filament systems.

Papillary dermis is fine and vascular; reticular dermis is dense and strong

A memory aid for the layers and contents of the dermis.

Renal biopsy, ciliary disorders, storage disease and undifferentiated tumours

A memory aid for when electron microscopy is diagnostically necessary.

Proliferative under oestrogen, secretory under progesterone

A memory aid for the histological changes of the endometrium through the cycle.

Auerbach's myenteric plexus controls motility; Meissner's submucosal plexus controls secretion

A mnemonic for the two plexuses of the enteric nervous system.

Come Let's Get Sun Burnt: basale, spinosum, granulosum, lucidum, corneum

A mnemonic for the layers of the epidermis from deep to superficial.

Simple or stratified, then squamous, cuboidal or columnar

A memory aid for classifying epithelium by layers and cell shape.

Microvilli, stereocilia and cilia, with different structure and function

A memory aid for the apical specialisations of epithelial cells.

Biconcave anucleate discs with central pallor, and anucleate platelet fragments

A memory aid for the normal appearance of red cells and platelets.

Classified by duct branching, secretory unit shape and mode of secretion

A memory aid for classifying glands by structure and secretion.

Margins, tissue identification, and confirming malignancy during surgery

A memory aid for when an intraoperative frozen section is used.

Simple columnar epithelium with no muscularis mucosae or submucosa

A memory aid for the microscopic structure of the biliary tract.

Dorsal root ganglion cells are large and regular; autonomic ganglion cells are smaller and scattered

A memory aid for distinguishing sensory from autonomic ganglia.

Parietal cells make acid and intrinsic factor, chief cells make pepsinogen, G cells make gastrin

A memory aid for the secretory cells of the gastric mucosa.

Astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia and ependyma centrally; Schwann cells peripherally

A memory aid for the glial cells and their functions.

Fenestrated endothelium, basement membrane, and podocyte foot processes

A memory aid for the three layers of the filtration barrier.

Unicellular mucous glands, increasing distally along the gut

A memory aid for goblet cell structure, distribution and disease relevance.

Mucosa, submucosa, muscularis externa and serosa or adventitia

A memory aid for the four layers of the gastrointestinal wall.

Peyer's patches, M cells, lamina propria lymphocytes and secretory IgA

A memory aid for the immune apparatus of the gut.

Anagen growing, catagen regressing, telogen resting

A memory aid for the hair follicle and its growth cycle.

Endocardium, myocardium and epicardium, from inside out

A memory aid for the three layers of the heart wall.

Zone 1 is periportal and best oxygenated; zone 3 is centrilobular and most vulnerable

A memory aid for the three zones of the hepatic lobule and their vulnerability.

Linear, granular or absent, each indicating a mechanism

A memory aid for the immunofluorescence patterns in renal and skin biopsy.

Antibodies against lineage-specific proteins identify a tumour's origin

A memory aid for the immunohistochemical markers identifying tissue lineage.

Avascular, aneural cartilage nourished by synovial fluid

A memory aid for the properties of articular cartilage and synovial fluid.

Macula densa, granular cells and extraglomerular mesangium

A memory aid for the microscopic components of the juxtaglomerular apparatus.

Hepatic lobules with portal triads, and pancreatic acini with islets

A memory aid for hepatic and pancreatic microarchitecture.

Fenestrated endothelium, Kupffer cells and stellate cells

A memory aid for the microarchitecture of the hepatic sinusoid.

Cortex with follicles, paracortex with T cells, and medulla with plasma cells

A memory aid for the histological zones of a lymph node.

Blind ended, highly permeable, with valves and no basement membrane

A memory aid for how lymphatic capillaries differ from blood capillaries.

Granulated connective tissue cells releasing histamine on IgE cross-linking

A memory aid for mast cell structure and function.

Dense fibrous dura, avascular arachnoid, delicate vascular pia

A memory aid for the histological structure of the meninges.

One differentiated epithelium replaced by another better suited to the stress

A memory aid for the common sites of epithelial metaplasia.

PMAT: Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase

A mnemonic for the stages of mitosis.

Merocrine, apocrine and holocrine, by how much cell is lost

A mnemonic for the three ways glands release their product.

Epithelium, lamina propria and muscularis mucosae

A memory aid for the layers of a mucous membrane.

Concentric wrapping of plasma membrane with nodes of Ranvier between

A memory aid for the structure and function of myelin.

Glomerulus, proximal tubule, loop of Henle, distal tubule, collecting duct

A memory aid for the sequence of nephron segments and what each does.

Unipolar, bipolar and multipolar, with Nissl substance in the cell body

A memory aid for neurone morphology and classification.

Chromatin pattern, nucleoli and shape indicate activity and malignancy

A memory aid for interpreting nuclear morphology.

Intramembranous for flat bones, endochondral for long bones

A memory aid for how bone forms and grows in length.

Beta for insulin, alpha for glucagon, delta for somatostatin

A memory aid for the cells of the islets of Langerhans.

Endoneurium around axons, perineurium around fascicles, epineurium around the nerve

A memory aid for the connective tissue layers of a peripheral nerve.

Acidophils, basophils and chromophobes, each producing different hormones

A memory aid for the cell types of the anterior pituitary.

Chorionic villi with syncytiotrophoblast, cytotrophoblast and fetal capillaries

A memory aid for the structure of the placental barrier.

Anucleate fragments with alpha and dense granules

A memory aid for platelet structure and the contents of its granules.

Interdigitating foot processes bridged by slit diaphragms

A memory aid for podocyte anatomy and its role in proteinuria.

Each region has a characteristic epithelium and glandular pattern

A memory aid for identifying the region of the gut from its mucosa.

Glomerular capillaries, Bowman capsule, podocytes and mesangium

A memory aid for the components of the renal corpuscle.

Pseudostratified ciliated columnar becomes simple squamous as the airway narrows

A memory aid for how the airway lining changes from trachea to alveolus.

Light passes through the retina to reach the photoreceptors at the back

A memory aid for the layers of the retina and its photoreceptors.

Parotid serous, sublingual mucous, submandibular mixed

A memory aid for distinguishing the major salivary glands microscopically.

A band stays the same, I band and H zone shorten

A mnemonic for the bands of the sarcomere and which shorten on contraction.

Type I slow oxidative, type IIa fast oxidative, type IIx fast glycolytic

A memory aid for the differences between slow and fast muscle fibres.

A band is dark and constant, I band is light and shortens

A memory aid for the bands and lines of the sarcomere.

Hair follicles, sebaceous glands, eccrine and apocrine sweat glands, nails

A memory aid for the adnexal structures of the skin.

Filaments slide past each other without changing length, powered by ATP

A memory aid for the cross-bridge cycle of muscle contraction.

Plicae, villi and microvilli multiply the area 600-fold

A memory aid for the three levels of folding that amplify absorptive surface.

Calcium acts through calmodulin and myosin light chain kinase, not troponin

A memory aid for how smooth muscle differs from skeletal muscle.

White pulp is lymphoid; red pulp filters blood

A memory aid for the red and white pulp of the spleen.

Crypt base in gut, basal layer in epidermis, limbus in cornea

A memory aid for where stem cells reside in renewing tissues.

Filiform have none; fungiform, circumvallate and foliate do

A memory aid for the tongue papillae and which carry taste buds.

Seminiferous tubules with Sertoli cells; ovarian follicles at successive stages

A memory aid for gonadal microstructure.

Cortex of dense thymocytes, medulla with Hassall corpuscles

A memory aid for the structure and function of the thymus.

Thyroid follicles filled with colloid; parathyroid chief and oxyphil cells

A memory aid for the microscopic appearance of the thyroid and parathyroid.

Fixation, dehydration, clearing, embedding, sectioning and staining

A memory aid for the steps of preparing a histology slide.

Proximal tubule has a brush border; distal tubule does not

A memory aid for identifying nephron segments histologically.

Transitional epithelium with umbrella cells and a specialised apical membrane

A memory aid for the specialised epithelium of the urinary tract.

Neutrophils, Lymphocytes, Monocytes, Eosinophils, Basophils

A mnemonic for the white cell types in order of abundance.