Skin is the main barrier between internal organs and the outside environment. The outer layer of skin is composed mostly of epithelial cells. Which is a characteristic of epithelial cells that makes them ideal for providing this type of protection?

Epithelial cells form continuous sheets, with very little space between neighboring cells. Being packed tightly together helps create a barrier that protects internal tissues from the outside environment. Lots of extracellular matrix is more characteristic of connective tissue, while synapses connect nerve cells.

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