Ossification in the human calcaneus: a model for spatial bone development and ossification

Perichondral bone, the circumferential grooves of Ranvier and cartilage canals are features of endochondral bone development. Cartilage canals containing connective tissue and blood vessels are found in the epiphysis of long bones and in cartilaginous anlagen of small and irregular bones. The pattern of cartilage canals seems to be integral to bone development and ossification. The canals may be concerned with the nourishment of large masses of cartilage, but neither their role in the formation of ossification centres nor their interaction with the circumferential grooves of Ranvier has been established. The relationships between cartilage canals, perichondral bone and the ossification centre were studied in the calcaneus of 9 to 38-wk-old human fetuses, by use of epoxy resin embedding, three-dimensional computer reconstructions and immunhistochemistry on paraffin sections. We found that cartilage canals are regularly arranged in shells surrounding the ossification centre. Whereas most of the shell canals might be involved in the nourishment of the cartilage, the inner shell is directly connected with the perichondral ossification groove of Ranvier and with large vessels from outside. In this way the inner shell canal imports extracellular matrix, cells and vessels into the cartilage. With the so-called communicating canals it is also connected to the endochondral ossification centre to which it delivers extracellular matrix, cells and vessels. The communicating canals can be considered as inverted 'internal' ossification grooves. They seem to be responsible for both build up intramembranous osteoid and for the direction of growth and thereby for orientation of the ossication centre.