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In mature bones, osteocytes and their processes reside inside spaces called lacunae (Latin for a pit) and canaliculi, respectively. [1] Osteocytes are simply osteoblasts trapped in the matrix that they secrete.
It is composed of 270 bones at the time of birth, [2] but later decreases to 206: 80 bones in the axial skeleton and 126 bones in the appendicular skeleton. 172 of 206 bones are part of a pair and the remaining 34 are unpaired. [3] Many small accessory bones, such as sesamoid bones, are not included in this.
A sesamoid bone is a small, round bone that, as the name suggests, is shaped like a sesame seed. These bones form in tendons (the sheaths of tissue that connect bones to muscles) where a great deal of pressure is generated in a joint. The sesamoid bones protect tendons by helping them overcome compressive forces.
Cancellous bone or spongy bone, [12] [11] also known as trabecular bone, is the internal tissue of the skeletal bone and is an open cell porous network that follows the material properties of biofoams. [13] [14] Cancellous bone has a higher surface-area-to-volume ratio than cortical bone and it is less dense. This makes it weaker and more flexible.
The axial skeleton (80 bones) is formed by the vertebral column (32–34 bones; the number of the vertebrae differs from human to human as the lower 2 parts, sacral and coccygeal bone may vary in length), a part of the rib cage (12 pairs of ribs and the sternum), and the skull (22 bones and 7 associated bones).
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 canals called canaliculi. A lacuna never contains more than one osteocyte.
Instead of becoming cartilage cells (chondrocytes), they mature into bone-building osteoblasts. [5] This newly formed bone can be called "periosteal bone" as it originates from the transformed periosteum. However, considering its developmental pathway, it could be classified as "intramembranous bone". [8]
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. Osteoblasts buried in the matrix are called osteocytes. During bone formation, the surface layer of osteoblasts consists of cuboidal cells, called active osteoblasts.