The Skeletal System: Bone Tissue Flashcards
What are the 6 main functions of the skeletal system?
- Support; skeleton supports soft tissues and provides attachement points for tendons of most skeletal muscles.
- Protection; skeleton protects internal organs.
- Assists in body movements; skeletal muscles attach to bone which produce movement when they contract.
- Mineral homeostasis; bone tissue stores many minerals (incl. calcium and phosphorus) and releases minerals into blood to maintain mineral homeostasis and distribute minerals throughout body.
- Blood cell production; red bone marrow in certain bones produce red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets (hemopoiesis).
- Triglyceride storage; adipose cells in yellow bone marrow store triglycerides.
What is red bone marrow made up of?
Developing blood cells, fibroblasts, adipocytes, and macrophages within network of reticular fibers.
What bones have red bone marrow?
In developing bones of fetus and hip bones, ribs, sternum, vertebrae, skull and ends of humerus and femur in adults.
Where does yellow bone marrow come from?
All bone marrow is red in newborns but changes to yellow with increasing age.
Long bone
A bone that’s greater in length than width.
diaphysis (pl. diaphyses)/body/shaft
Long, cylindrical, main portion of bone
Epiphysis (pl. epiphyses)
Ends of bone (proximal and distal)
Metaphysis (pl. metaphyses)
Regions between diaphysis and epiphyses
Epiphyseal/growth plate
Epiphyseal or growth plate is a layer of hyaline cartilage that allows the bone to grow in length, it is found in the metaphyses of a growing bone.
What is articular cartilage and it’s function
Thin layer of hyaline cartilage that covers joint surfaces at epiphyses. It’s reduces friction and absorbs shock.
Why is damage repair limited in articular cartilages?
It lacks a perichondrium and blood vessels/a vascular
What is an articulation?
Where two bones join together
Periosteum
Tough connective tissue sheath and associated blood supply that covers bone where there’s no articular cartilage.
What is the function of the periosteum and what is it composed of?
Composed of an inner osteogenic layer that has osteoprogenitor cells which allows appositional growth, and an outer fibrous layer of dense irregular connective tissue. Periosteum protects the bone, helps nourish the bone tissue, aids in fracture repair, and serves as attachment point for tendons and ligaments.
Perforating fibers/Sharpey’s fibers
Thick bundles of collagen that extend from periosteum into bone extracellular matrix and attaches periosteum to underlying bone
What is the medullary cavity and it’s function?
Hollow, cylindrical space within diaphysis that contains yellow bone marrow and blood vessels. It minimizes the weight of bone by reducing dense bony material.
What is endosteum and what does it contain?
A thin membrane lining the medullary cavity and internal spaces of spongy bone containing osteoprogenitor cells and a little connective tissue.
What is extracellular matrix consist of?
15% water, 30% collagen fibers, 55% crystallized mineral salts
What is bone and what type of tissues does it contain?
Bone is an organ made of osseous tissue, nervous tissue, cartilage, fibrous connective tissue, muscle cells, and epithelial cells in its blood vessels
What type of tissue is osseous tissue and what does it contain?
Osseous tissue is a type of connective tissue which contains widely spaced cells separated by extracellular matrix
What contributes to bone’s hardness and tensile strength?
Bone hardness depends on crystallized inorganic mineral salts and tensile strength depends on collagen fibers and other organic molecules.
How do hydroxyapatite crystals play a role in calcification (or ossification)?
Hydroxyapatite crystals are formed through the combination of calcium phosphate and calcium hydroxide found in the bone extracellular matrix. Hydroxyapatite will then combine with other salts (such as calcium carbonate) and ions (such as magnesium, fluoride, potassium, sulfate). Calcification/ossification occurs when these mineral salts are deposited in the framework of collagen fibers of the extracellular matrix and then crystallize which causes the tissue to harden.
What is a requirement for calcification to occur?
The presence of collagen fibers
What happens if a bone is soaked in an acidic solution and why?
Soaking a bone in an acidic solution will dissolve its mineral salts and causes the bone to become rubbery and flexible
What are the 4 types of cells present in bone tissue?
Osteoprogenitor cells, osteoblasts, osteocytes, osteoclasts
Osteoprogenitor cells (what, where, why, how)
- Unspecialized bone stem cells derived from mesenchyme
- Found along inner osteogenic layer of periosteum, in the endosteum, and canals within bone that contain blood vessels
- Only bone cells that undergo cell division (develops into osteoblasts)
Osteoblasts (what, where, why, how)
- Performs bone deposition and initiates calcification
- Can’t divide but becomes osteocytes when cells become trapped in extracellular matrix
Bone deposition
The addition of minerals and collagen fibers to bone by osteoblasts to build ECM
“-blast”
Buds/spouts; in any connective tissue cells means cell that secrete extracellular matrix
Osteocytes (what, where, why, how)
- Mature bone cells that maintain daily bone metabolism (such as exchange of wastes and nutrients with blood, maintain protein and mineral content of matrix)
- Main cells in bone tissue
- Cannot divide
Osteoclasts (what, where, why, how)
- Huge cells formed by fusion of up to 50 monocytes
- Functions in bone resorption and helped regulate blood calcium level
- Concentrated in endosteum (one side of cell faces bone surface and plasma membrane is deeply folded into ruffled border)
Bone resorption
The removal of minerals and collagen from ECM by osteoclasts; a part of normal development, maintenance and repair or bone
“-cytes”
Cells; in tissue cell means cell maintains and monitors tissue
“-clast”
Break
Compact (dense) bone (what, where, why, how)
- Contains few spaces
- Strongest type of bone tissue
- Makes up about 80% of skeleton
- Found beneath periosteum of all bones and makes up bulk of diaphyses in long bone
- Provides protection and supports and resists strains produced by weight and movement
Explain the connection between osteons (haversian systems), concentric bone lamellae, osteonic (haversian/central) canal, bone lacunae, bone canaliculi, osteocytes, blood vessels and nerves
- Compact bone tissue is made up of structural units called osteons
- Osteons are aligned parallel to each other along lines of stress (parallel to long axis in long bones)
- Osteons consist of a concentric bone lamellae (circular plates of mineralized extracellular matrix with increasing diameter) that surrounds an osteonic canal containing blood vessels and nerves
- Bone lacunae are small spaces in between the concentric bone lamellae
- Osteocytes are contained in lacunae
- Bone canaliculi are little channels filled with extracellular fluid that connect each lacuna to one another and to the osteonic canal
- Dendritic processes of osteocytes contained in canaliculi and allow communication between osteocytes via gap junctions
Why is the skeleton considered dynamic?
Bones are continually engaging bone remodelling throughout life
Skeletal system
Framework of bones and their cartilages
Osteology
Study of bone structure and treatment of bone disorders