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The Osteocyte: From “Prisoner” to “Orchestrator”

Osteocytes are the most abundant bone cells, entrapped inside the mineralized bone matrix. They derive from osteoblasts through a complex series of morpho-functional modifications; such modifications not only concern the cell shape (from prismatic to dendritic) and location (along the vascular bone...

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Autores principales: Palumbo, Carla, Ferretti, Marzia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8006231/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33802907
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jfmk6010028
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author Palumbo, Carla
Ferretti, Marzia
author_facet Palumbo, Carla
Ferretti, Marzia
author_sort Palumbo, Carla
collection PubMed
description Osteocytes are the most abundant bone cells, entrapped inside the mineralized bone matrix. They derive from osteoblasts through a complex series of morpho-functional modifications; such modifications not only concern the cell shape (from prismatic to dendritic) and location (along the vascular bone surfaces or enclosed inside the lacuno-canalicular cavities, respectively) but also their role in bone processes (secretion/mineralization of preosseous matrix and/or regulation of bone remodeling). Osteocytes are connected with each other by means of different types of junctions, among which the gap junctions enable osteocytes inside the matrix to act in a neuronal-like manner, as a functional syncytium together with the cells placed on the vascular bone surfaces (osteoblasts or bone lining cells), the stromal cells and the endothelial cells, i.e., the bone basic cellular system (BBCS). Within the BBCS, osteocytes can communicate in two ways: by means of volume transmission and wiring transmission, depending on the type of signals (metabolic or mechanical, respectively) received and/or to be forwarded. The capability of osteocytes in maintaining skeletal and mineral homeostasis is due to the fact that it acts as a mechano-sensor, able to transduce mechanical strains into biological signals and to trigger/modulate the bone remodeling, also because of the relevant role of sclerostin secreted by osteocytes, thus regulating different bone cell signaling pathways. The authors want to emphasize that the present review is centered on the morphological aspects of the osteocytes that clearly explain their functional implications and their role as bone orchestrators.
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spelling pubmed-80062312021-07-21 The Osteocyte: From “Prisoner” to “Orchestrator” Palumbo, Carla Ferretti, Marzia J Funct Morphol Kinesiol Review Osteocytes are the most abundant bone cells, entrapped inside the mineralized bone matrix. They derive from osteoblasts through a complex series of morpho-functional modifications; such modifications not only concern the cell shape (from prismatic to dendritic) and location (along the vascular bone surfaces or enclosed inside the lacuno-canalicular cavities, respectively) but also their role in bone processes (secretion/mineralization of preosseous matrix and/or regulation of bone remodeling). Osteocytes are connected with each other by means of different types of junctions, among which the gap junctions enable osteocytes inside the matrix to act in a neuronal-like manner, as a functional syncytium together with the cells placed on the vascular bone surfaces (osteoblasts or bone lining cells), the stromal cells and the endothelial cells, i.e., the bone basic cellular system (BBCS). Within the BBCS, osteocytes can communicate in two ways: by means of volume transmission and wiring transmission, depending on the type of signals (metabolic or mechanical, respectively) received and/or to be forwarded. The capability of osteocytes in maintaining skeletal and mineral homeostasis is due to the fact that it acts as a mechano-sensor, able to transduce mechanical strains into biological signals and to trigger/modulate the bone remodeling, also because of the relevant role of sclerostin secreted by osteocytes, thus regulating different bone cell signaling pathways. The authors want to emphasize that the present review is centered on the morphological aspects of the osteocytes that clearly explain their functional implications and their role as bone orchestrators. MDPI 2021-03-17 /pmc/articles/PMC8006231/ /pubmed/33802907 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jfmk6010028 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Palumbo, Carla
Ferretti, Marzia
The Osteocyte: From “Prisoner” to “Orchestrator”
title The Osteocyte: From “Prisoner” to “Orchestrator”
title_full The Osteocyte: From “Prisoner” to “Orchestrator”
title_fullStr The Osteocyte: From “Prisoner” to “Orchestrator”
title_full_unstemmed The Osteocyte: From “Prisoner” to “Orchestrator”
title_short The Osteocyte: From “Prisoner” to “Orchestrator”
title_sort osteocyte: from “prisoner” to “orchestrator”
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8006231/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33802907
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jfmk6010028
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