Osteocyte
Mature Skeletal Cell
About the Osteocyte
Mature Skeletal Cell
Inside hard tissue
Osteocytes live in small chambers within mineralised matrix and talk to each other through tiny channels.
Clinical and real-world context
Osteocytes sense mechanical load and direct bone remodelling, which is relevant to osteoporosis and fracture healing.
3 structures to explore
Lacuna
The cell's chamber
Each osteocyte sits in a small cavity called a lacuna, surrounded by hard mineralised matrix.
Osteocytes are the most abundant cells in mature bone.
Canaliculi
The communication tunnels
Thin channels radiate from each lacuna. Slim projections of the cell run through them, linking osteocytes and carrying nutrients and signals.
Osteocytes use fluid flow in these channels to sense when bone is being loaded.
Nucleus
Flattened and quiet
The osteocyte began as a bone-building cell that became trapped in its own matrix, and it now mainly maintains and monitors it.
An osteocyte can live for decades.