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Osteocyte
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An osteocyte is a mature bone cell. It began as an osteoblast making bone matrix; when that matrix calcified, the cell became enclosed in a tiny space called a lacuna. Picture many small rooms inside a mineral wall.
Each osteocyte sends thin extensions through canaliculi, microscopic passageways linking those rooms. These channels let the cells communicate and receive nutrients. That network allows osteocytes to help maintain the matrix’s mineral concentration while living inside rigid tissue.
In brief
An osteocyte is the main cell found in mature bone. It forms when an osteoblast becomes surrounded by the matrix it produced and that matrix calcifies. The cell then occupies a small space called a lacuna within bone tissue.
From its lacuna, an osteocyte helps maintain the mineral concentration of the bone matrix. Thin extensions travel through canaliculi, tiny channels that let osteocytes communicate with one another and receive nutrients within tissue that would otherwise be too hard and compact.
Connected cells embedded in bone.
Sources (1)
- OpenStax, Rice University6.3 Bone StructurePublished
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