{"title":"Osteocyte Dendrites: How Do They Grow, Mature, and Degenerate in Mineralized Bone?","authors":"Rosa M. Guerra, Velia M. Fowler, Liyun Wang","doi":"10.1002/cm.21964","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Osteocytes, the most abundant bone cells, form an extensive cellular network via interconnecting dendrites. Like neurons in the brain, the long-lived osteocytes perceive mechanical and biological inputs and signal to other effector cells, leading to the homeostasis and turnover of bone tissues. Despite the appreciation of osteocytes' vital roles in bone biology, the initiation, growth, maintenance, and eventual degradation of osteocyte dendrites are poorly understood due to their full encasement by mineralized matrix. With the advancement of imaging modalities and genetic models, the architectural organization and molecular composition of the osteocyte dendrites, as well as their morphological changes with aging and diseases, have begun to be revealed. However, several long-standing mysteries remain unsolved, including (1) how the dendrites are initiated and elongated when a surface osteoblast becomes embedded as an osteocyte; (2) how the dendrites maintain a relatively stable morphology during their decades-long life span; (3) what biological processes control the dendrite morphology, connectivity, and stability; and (4) if these processes are influenced by age, sex, hormones, and mechanical loading. Our review of long, thin actin filament (F-actin)-containing processes extending from other cells leads to a working model that serves as a starting point to investigate the formation and maintenance of osteocyte dendrites and their degradation with aging and diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":55186,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton","volume":"82 9","pages":"556-570"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12146430/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cytoskeleton","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cm.21964","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"CELL BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Osteocytes, the most abundant bone cells, form an extensive cellular network via interconnecting dendrites. Like neurons in the brain, the long-lived osteocytes perceive mechanical and biological inputs and signal to other effector cells, leading to the homeostasis and turnover of bone tissues. Despite the appreciation of osteocytes' vital roles in bone biology, the initiation, growth, maintenance, and eventual degradation of osteocyte dendrites are poorly understood due to their full encasement by mineralized matrix. With the advancement of imaging modalities and genetic models, the architectural organization and molecular composition of the osteocyte dendrites, as well as their morphological changes with aging and diseases, have begun to be revealed. However, several long-standing mysteries remain unsolved, including (1) how the dendrites are initiated and elongated when a surface osteoblast becomes embedded as an osteocyte; (2) how the dendrites maintain a relatively stable morphology during their decades-long life span; (3) what biological processes control the dendrite morphology, connectivity, and stability; and (4) if these processes are influenced by age, sex, hormones, and mechanical loading. Our review of long, thin actin filament (F-actin)-containing processes extending from other cells leads to a working model that serves as a starting point to investigate the formation and maintenance of osteocyte dendrites and their degradation with aging and diseases.
期刊介绍:
Cytoskeleton focuses on all aspects of cytoskeletal research in healthy and diseased states, spanning genetic and cell biological observations, biochemical, biophysical and structural studies, mathematical modeling and theory. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, classic polymer systems of eukaryotic cells and their structural sites of attachment on membranes and organelles, as well as the bacterial cytoskeleton, the nucleoskeleton, and uncoventional polymer systems with structural/organizational roles. Cytoskeleton is published in 12 issues annually, and special issues will be dedicated to especially-active or newly-emerging areas of cytoskeletal research.