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An osteocyte, an oblate shaped type of bone cell with dendritic processes, is the most commonly found cell in mature bone. It can live as long as the organism itself. [1] The adult human body has about 42 billion of them. [2] Osteocytes do not divide and have an average half life of 25 years. They are derived from osteoprogenitor cells, some of ...
Osteoblasts are found in large numbers in the periosteum, the thin connective tissue layer on the outside surface of bones, and in the endosteum. Normally, almost all of the bone matrix, in the air breathing vertebrates, is mineralized by the osteoblasts. Before the organic matrix is mineralized, it is called the osteoid.
The spaces the cell body of osteocytes occupy within the mineralized collagen type I matrix are known as lacunae, while the osteocyte cell processes occupy channels called canaliculi. The many processes of osteocytes reach out to meet osteoblasts, osteoclasts, bone lining cells, and other osteocytes probably for the purposes of communication. [26]
Bone canaliculus. Diagram of cross-section of bone osteons showing osteocytes and interconnecting canaliculi. Bone canaliculi are microscopic canals between the lacunae of ossified bone. The radiating processes of the osteocytes (called filopodia) project into these canals. These cytoplasmic processes are joined together by gap junctions.
The lacunae are situated between the lamellae, and consist of a number of oblong spaces. In an ordinary microscopic section, viewed by transmitted light, they appear as fusiform opaque spots. Each lacuna is occupied during life by a branched cell, termed an osteocyte, bone-cell or bone-corpuscle. Lacunae are connected to one another by small ...
Osteocytes are the most abundant cells in bone and are also the most sensitive to such fluid flow caused by mechanical loading. [6] Upon sensing a load, osteocytes regulate bone remodeling by signaling to other cells with signaling molecules or direct contact. [ 9 ]
Osteocytes, the most common cell type within mature cortical bone, actively participate in the growth and maintenance of TCVs through the transfer of mitochondria to endothelial cells. Scanning electron microscopy images have revealed that osteocytes possess numerous dendritic processes with expanded, endfoot-like structures. These endfeet ...
An osteoclast (from Ancient Greek ὀστέον (osteon) 'bone' and κλαστός (clastos) 'broken') is a type of bone cell that breaks down bone tissue. This function is critical in the maintenance, repair, and remodeling of bones of the vertebral skeleton. The osteoclast disassembles and digests the composite of hydrated protein and mineral ...