Week 3 - Bone Physiology and Calcium Flashcards
What are some of the functions of bone?
Support, storage of minerals, fat and 99% of the body’s calcium, protection (cranial/thoracic regions), haematopoiesis and leverage
What are the two components of bone?
Cellular and ECM
What % of ECM is hydroxyapatite and is it inorganic or organic?
67%
Inorganic
What makes up the organic component of ECM?
What % is it?
33% is organic
28% is collagen
5% is noncollagenous proteins
What’s the hydroxyapatite:calcium ratio?
1.3-2.0
Changes through life
Describe the organic matrix and the importance of its two main components
90-95% is collagen 1
Remainder is proteoglycans - gelatinous ground substance including chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid.
These give sugars help the proteoglycans mis with collagen to give a 3-D matrix –> this bit gets calcified and turned into bone
What are the bone precursor cells? Where do you find them and what do they turn onto?
- Osteoprogenitors
- Start as stem cells (mitotic)
- Located in inner cellular layer or periosteum, endosteum and lining the osteonic canals
- Turn into Osteoblasts
When are osteoprogenitor cells most active?
During bone growth
But
A large number are reactivated in adult life in repair of fracture
What is an Osteoblast? Where is it found?
An osteoblast is a cell that begins to form bone. They’re derived from osteoprogenitor cells and synthesize the organic components of the bone matrix
Located on the surface of bone tissue, and appear cuboidal when active
What do Osteoblasts turn into?
Osteocytes - mature bone cells
Describe the structures surrounding an osteocyte?
Osteocytes sit in lacunae - cytoplasmic processes - connected by canaliculi.
The cells are trapped as the surrounding ECM has become calcified.
What is the purpose of canaliculi?
They carry extracellular fluid containing nutrients to nourish the osteocytyes
How to osteocytes communicate?
Through gap junctions - these connect adjacent cells and allow ions and small molecules to travel from cell to cell
What are osteoclasts?
Large, motile, multinucleated, bone-resorbing cells derived from monocytes.
Where would you find an osteoclast?
They occupy depressions in bone matrix
How does bone resorption occur?
Osteoclasts adhere tightly to established bone matrix, acidify the bone surface using Hydrogen ATP-ases, and exocytose lysosomal enzymes
Degraded mineral and organic components are endocytosed by the osteoclasts, and delivered to nearby capillaries to enter the circulation
Why are osteoclasts so important?
Provide a large source of free calcium into the circulation
What is the pathway of an osteoprogenitor cell?
Osteoprogenitor –> osteoblast –> osteocyte
What is the annual bone turnover?
10-20%
Where does linear and width growth in a bone occur?
Linear - growth at an epiphyseal plate
Width - at the periosteum