lecture 27 Flashcards
Learning objectives?
- how is bone homeostasis maintained and why is it important to do so?
- what controls osteoclast differentiation?
- how do osteoclasts resorb bone?
- what regulates osteoblast differentiation?
- how do osteoblasts make bone?
- what are osteocytes?
- how do osteocytes control bone formation and bone resorption?
- why is wnt signalling important for bone?
- what regulates wnt signalling activation?
- what are some of the current treatments for osteoporosis and how do they work?
What is the composition of bone?
outer cortical shell (thick, structural strength, protects inner bone and bone marrow)
cancellous/trabecular bone: struts that strengthen bone
organic matrix
- collagen = 90% of organic matrix and 10% of adult bone mass
- other proteins that help to bind mineral
mineral
- hydrosyapatite, an insoluble salt of calcium and phosphorous = 65% of adult bone mass
- small amounts of magnesium, sodium, and bicarbonate
water
- 25% of adult bone mass
Is bone an idle tissue?
- no
- approx 5 - 10% of bone in an adult human skeleton is replaced each year
- this process is known as bone remodelling
- occurs at 1-2 million microscopic remodelling foci
- initiated asynchonously through the skeleton, at sites that are geographically and chronologically separated
Why is our bone remodelled?
maintain mineral ion homeostasis
- 99% of body’s calcium, 85% of body’s phosphorous
- blood calcium maintained within a narrow range to maintain muscle and nerve function
- bone is resorbed to release calcium into blood when requried
adapt shape and structural organisation to alterations in biomechanical forces
- “mechanostat”
maintain structural integrity
- repair microdamage
What is the BMU?
- basic multicellular unit
- the cellular makeup of the site of bone remodelling
- osteocytes: embedded within bone matrix, critical to maintaining bone health
- osteoblasts: bone forming
- osteoclasts: large, multinucleated cell, bone resorbing
What is the physiology of bone remodelling?
- a balance in bone resorption and bone formation
- multinucleated osteoclasts come in and sit on bone surface
- resorb/eat a package of bone leaving resorption cavities (Lacunae)
- osteoblasts come in in teams releasing organic component of the bone
- unmineralised bone matrix = osteoid
- with time as a passive process osteoid binds minerals to become mineralised bone
- for bone to be healthy we need equal resorption and formation
- osteocytes do have a function in this process
What is osteoid?
- unmineralised bone matrix
How long does resorption/formation take?
- resorption takes about 3 weeks
- formation about 3-4 months
What happens when we have increased osteoclast activity relative to osteoblast activity?
- net bone less e.g. osteoporosis
- thinner etc
- more susceptible to breaks
What happens when we have more Obs relative to Ocls?
- net bone gain
- e.g. osteopetrosis, osteosclerosis
- genetic abnormalaties
- high bone mass
- more opaque in x-ray
What is the osteoclast?
- the bone resorbing cells
- large multinucleated cells (4-20 nuclei/cell)
- enriched with mitrochondria
How do osteoclasts resorb bone?
- forming a “sealing zone” by integrin-mediated attachment to bone
- acidification of resorptive lacunae to dissolve the mineral component
- release of collagenases and other enzymes to degrade the organic component
- bone degradation products are taken up by the osteoclast and released
bone resorption takes ~3 weeks
What is the differentiation and function of osteoblasts?
- derived from mesenchymal/skeletal stem cell
- share a common cell fate with those to become muscle, chondrocytes
- osteogenic/adopogenic precursor: osteoblast or cells that produce fat tissue
- certain signals will make precursor cells follow osteoblast lineage
- in the mature osteoblast become bone forming cells that secrete bone matrix
- release some factors that aid bone mineralisation
- another function is support of osteoclast activity (early osteoblasts)
- early cells express a factor called RANKL
- later osteoblasts inhibit action of osteoclasts: OPG
What are the three fates of osteoblasts?
- osteocytes
- lining cell (function unknown)
- apoptosis
How do osteoblasts form bone?
Following cessation of osteoprogenitor proliferation:
- secretion of extracellular matrix proteins (osteoid) including collagen, bone, sialoprotein, osteocalcin
- expression of alkaline phosphatase
- -> renders the osteoid (non-mineralised matrix) competent for mineral deposition