Osteocyte

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Image:Transverse Section Of Bone.png
Transverse Section Of Bone

An osteocyte, a star-shaped cell, is the most abundant cell found in bone. Cells contain a nucleus and a thin ring of cytoplasm. Once osteoblasts become trapped in the matrix they secrete, they become osteocytes. Osteocytes are networked to each other via long cytoplasmic extensions that occupy tiny canals called canaliculi, which are used for exchange of nutrients and waste. The space that an osteocyte occupies is called a lacuna (Latin for a pit). Although osteocytes have reduced synthetic activity and, like osteoblasts are not capable of mitotic division, they are actively involved in the routine turnover of bony matrix, through various mechanosensory mechanisms. They destroy bone through a slow (relative to osteoclasts) mechanism called osteocytic osteolysis. Osteoblasts/osteocytes develop in mesenchyme.

Hydroxyapatite, calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate is deposited around the cell.

External links

fr:Ostéocyte

mk:Остеоцит nl:Osteocytsk:Osteocyt


Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content

Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .

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