The image is of a region of the intestinal wall and was stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE).
The area at the right part of the image is occupied by a bundle of smooth muscle cells. These cells are fusiform, (spindle-shaped) and they are organized in parallel to each other.
The left portion of the image is occupied by connective tissue. It has a large amount of collagen fibers that occupy a great part of the extracellular matrix in many tissues.
The nuclei of both tissues are stained blue-purple by hematoxylin.
The cytoplasm of the cells stains pink as do the the collagen fibrils of the extracellular matrix. Observe that the nuclei are nicely arranged in the muscle layer but no so orderly in the conective tissue.
Most of the nuclei of connective tissue cells stain stronger than those of muscle tissue, being darker. They are also called dense chromatin nuclei. Nuclei that stain less, such as those of muscle cells, are called loose chromatin nuclei.
After placing the mouse or clicking on the image , the nuclei in both tissues become stained in dark blue. The cytoplasm of the smooth muscle cells becomes stained in light blue and the extracellular collagen fibers in pink.
Small intestine. Hematoxylin and eosin. Medium magnification.
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