Apoptosis during intramembranous ossification

This paper concerns the role of apoptosis during the onset of bone histogenesis. Previous investigations by us performed on intramembranous ossification revealed the existence of two types of osteogenesis: static (SBF) and dynamic bone formation (DBF). During SBF, the first to occur, stationary osteoblasts transform into osteocytes in the same location where they differentiated, forming the primary spongiosa. DBF takes place later, when movable osteoblastic laminae differentiate along the surface of the primary trabeculae. The main distinctive feature between SBF and DBF is that the latter involves the invasion of pre-existing adjacent tissue, whereas the former does not. To ascertain whether programmed cell death during the invasive DBF process determines the fate of surrounding pre-existing mesenchyme differently from that occurring during the non-invasive SBF process, we studied apoptosis in ossification centres of tibial diaphysis in chick embryos and newborn rabbits with TUNEL and TEM. It emerged that, in both SBF and DBF, apoptosis affects mesenchymal cells located between the forming trabeculae and capillaries. However, apoptotic cells were observed more frequently during DBF than during SBF. This suggests that, during bone histogenesis, apoptosis, which is mostly associated with the invasive process of DBF, is probably dedicated to making space for advancing bone growth.