[Cytoskeleton of cultured osteoclasts on bone slices and glass]

The cytoskeletal system in a osteoclast modulates its cell shape and motility. During bone remodeling, osteoclastic adhesion and escapement from bone matrix depend upon the formation and disassembly of podosomes. Highly dynamic adhesion of osteoclasts to the bone matrix is referred to as podosomes which consists of actin cytoskeleton and its associated proteins. The cytoskeleton modulates not only in mechanical support of cell shape and motility but also serves signal transducing function in response to external signals. For the better understanding of osteoclast function, our intention here is to describe a dynamic cytoskeleton of osteoclasts including a specific adhesion termed podosome.