Inanimal andHuman biology, atendon cell is a cell that makes uptendons, the bands of connective tissue that connects muscles to bones.

Tendon cells, or tenocytes, are elongatedfibroblast type cells. The cytoplasm is stretched between thecollagen fibres of the tendon. They have a centralcell nucleus with a prominentnucleolus. Tendon cells have a well-developedrough endoplasmic reticulum and they are responsible for synthesis and turnover of tendon fibres andground substance.

Tendon cells form a connectingepithelial layer between themuscle and shell inmolluscs. Ingastropods, for example, the retractor muscles connect to the shell via tendon cells. Muscle cells are attached to the collagenous myo-tendon space viahemidesmosomes. The myo-tendon space is then attached to the base of the tendon cells via basal hemidesmosomes, while apical hemidesmosomes, which sit atopmicrovilli, attach the tendon cells to a thin layer ofcollagen. This is in turn attached to the shell via organic fibres which insert into the shell. Molluscan tendon cells appear columnar and contain a large basalcell nucleus. Thecytoplasm is filled with granularendoplasmic reticulum and sparsegolgi. Dense bundles ofmicrofilaments run the length of the cell connecting the basal to the apical hemidesmosomes.

• List of human cell types derived from the germ layers
• List of distinct cell types in the adult human body

• Krstić RV (1984).Illustrated Encyclopedia of Human Histology. Berlin: Springer Verlag.
• Tompa AS, Watabe N (July 1976). "Ultrastructural investigation of the mechanism of muscle attachment to the gastropod shell".Journal of Morphology.149 (3):339–52.doi:10.1002/jmor.1051490304.PMID 957445.S2CID 35530166.

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