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osteocyte

 
Dictionary: os·te·o·cyte   (ŏs'tē-ə-sīt') pronunciation
n.
A branched cell embedded in the matrix of bone tissue.


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Dental Dictionary: osteocyte
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(os′tē ōsīt)
n

An osteoblast that has been surrounded by a calcified interstitial substance; the cells are enclosed within lacunae, and the cytoplasmic processes extend through apertures of the lacunae into canaliculi in the bone. Like the osteoblast, the osteocyte may undergo transformations and assume the form of an osteoclast or reticular cell.

A spider-shaped, mature bone cell derived from an osteoblast. Osteocytes lie in a small cavities (the lacunae) in bone.

Veterinary Dictionary: osteocyte
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An osteoblast that has become embedded within the bone matrix, occupying a bone lacuna, and sending through canaliculi cytoplasmic processes that connect with other osteocytes in developing bone.

  • o.–osteoblast pump — the interaction of osteocytes and osteoblasts, in response to parathyroid hormone, in moving calcium from the bone fluid to the extracellular fluid compartment.
  • surface o. — a leaky barrier between cancellous and dense bone and lining the vascular channels in cortical bone. Called also resting osteoblast, inactive osteoblast.
Wikipedia: Osteocyte
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Transverse Section Of Bone

An osteocyte, a star-shaped cell, is the most abundant[citation needed] cell found in compact bone. Cells contain a nucleus and a thin ring of cytoplasm. When osteoblasts become trapped in the matrix they secrete, they become osteocytes. Osteocytes are networked to each other via long cytoplasmic extensions that occupy tiny canals called canaliculi, which are used for exchange of nutrients and waste. The space that an osteocyte occupies is called a lacuna (Latin for a pit). Although osteocytes have reduced synthetic activity and, like osteoblasts are not capable of mitotic division, they are actively involved in the routine turnover of bony matrix, through various mechanosensory mechanisms. They destroy bone through a rapid, transient (relative to osteoclasts) mechanism called osteocytic osteolysis.  Osteoblasts/osteocytes develop in mesenchyme. Hydroxyapatite, calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate is deposited around the cell.

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Sports Science and Medicine. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. Copyright © Michael Kent 1998, 2006, 2007. All rights reserved.  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Osteocyte" Read more