Identify the tissue indicated by the arrow.

Identify the tissue indicated by the arrow.

• A. Simple squamous epithelium
• B. Simple cuboidal epithelium
• C. Transitional epithelium
• D. Simple columnar epithelium

Answer: (B)

Identifying tissue type hinges on cell shape and how many layers are present. In simple cuboidal epithelium, the cells are roughly cube-shaped and form a single layer around a lumen, with round, centrally located nuclei. This gives a neat, boxy appearance in the slide. If the arrow shows a uniform single layer of square-ish cells with nuclei in the middle, that matches simple cuboidal epithelium well. For contrast, flattened, pancake-like cells would indicate simple squamous epithelium; tall, column-like cells with nuclei near the base point to simple columnar epithelium; and transitional epithelium would show dome-shaped cells that can vary in height and often appear multilayered when stretched.

Identifying tissue type hinges on cell shape and how many layers are present. In simple cuboidal epithelium, the cells are roughly cube-shaped and form a single layer around a lumen, with round, centrally located nuclei. This gives a neat, boxy appearance in the slide. If the arrow shows a uniform single layer of square-ish cells with nuclei in the middle, that matches simple cuboidal epithelium well.

For contrast, flattened, pancake-like cells would indicate simple squamous epithelium; tall, column-like cells with nuclei near the base point to simple columnar epithelium; and transitional epithelium would show dome-shaped cells that can vary in height and often appear multilayered when stretched.