Dictionary:
os·te·o·cyte (ŏs'tē-ə-sīt') ![]() |
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| Dental Dictionary: osteocyte |
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.
| Sports Science and Medicine: osteocyte |
A spider-shaped, mature bone cell derived from an osteoblast. Osteocytes lie in a small cavities (the lacunae) in bone.
| Veterinary Dictionary: osteocyte |
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.
| Wikipedia: Osteocyte |
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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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