A 54-year-old woman presents with numbness and

weakness in her lower extremity as well as pain that radiates from her lower

back down the back of the thigh. Imaging reveals that the patient has a

herniated intervertebral disk. This occurs when the softer center of the disk,

the nucleus pulposus, herniates out of the stronger outer portion, the annulus

fibrosus. What is typical for the tissue forming the annulus fibrosus?