Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 19, 2026
07:13
Application of Retinoic Acid to Obtain Osteocytes Cultures from Primary Mouse Osteoblasts
Published on: May 13, 2014
13.9K
Alternating Differentiation and Dedifferentiation between Mature Osteoblasts and Osteocytes
Naruhiko Sawa1,2, Hiroki Fujimoto1, Yoshihiko Sawa3
1Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Fukuoka Dental College, Fukuoka, Japan.
Scientific Reports
|September 27, 2019
Summary
Osteocytes, mature bone cells, can revert to osteoblasts without genetic modification. This study demonstrates osteocyte dedifferentiation potential, offering new insights into bone cell plasticity.
Area of Science:
- Bone Biology
- Cell Biology
- Cellular Plasticity
Background:
- Osteocytes are terminally differentiated cells within the bone matrix.
- Mesenchymal lineage cells exhibit plasticity, but osteocyte dedifferentiation remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dedifferentiation potential of osteocytes back into osteoblasts.
- To clarify the plasticity of mature bone cells.
Main Methods:
- Mouse calvarial osteoblasts were cultured in 2D and 3D collagen gel environments.
- Cell morphology, gene expression (Alpl, Sost, Fgf23, Dmp1), cell cycle, and mineralization were assessed.
- Osteocytes were recovered from 3D culture and re-cultured in 2D.
Main Results:
- Osteoblasts in 3D culture transformed into osteocyte-like cells (stellate shape, high Sost, Fgf23, Dmp1).
- Osteocytes recovered from 3D culture and re-cultured in 2D reverted to osteoblast-like cells (fibroblast shape, high Alpl, mineralization capacity).
- Osteocyte dedifferentiation occurred without genetic manipulation.
Conclusions:
- Osteocytes possess the inherent capacity to dedifferentiate into functional osteoblasts.
- This finding highlights significant bone cell plasticity and challenges previous assumptions about terminally differentiated cells.
Related Concept Videos
01:40Bone Remodeling
40.3K
Bone remodeling is a continuous and balanced process of bone resorption by osteoclasts and bone formation by osteoblasts. In adults, it helps maintain bone mass and calcium homeostasis. While mechanical stress can stimulate turnover as part of the normal maintenance and reparative process, several hormones also regulate bone remodeling.
40.3K
01:31Osteoclasts in Bone Remodeling
3.9K
Osteoclasts are cells responsible for bone resorption and remodeling. They originate from hematopoietic progenitor cells present in the bone marrow. Numerous progenitor cells fuse to form multinucleated cells, each with 10-20 nuclei. A single osteoclast has a diameter of 150 to 200 µM. These cells have ruffled borders that break down the underlying bone tissue and release minerals such as calcium into the blood in bone resorption. Osteoclasts cling to bones with their ruffled edges during...
3.9K
01:30Bone Cells and Tissue
8.0K
Bones contain a relatively small number of cells entrenched in a matrix of organic and inorganic components. Although bone cells compose only a small amount of the bone volume, they are crucial to its function. Four types of cells are found within the bone tissue— osteoblasts, osteocytes, osteogenic cells, and osteoclasts.
Osteoblasts and Osteocytes
The osteoblast is the bone cell responsible for forming new bone tissue. It is found in the growing portions of bone, including the...
Osteoblasts and Osteocytes
The osteoblast is the bone cell responsible for forming new bone tissue. It is found in the growing portions of bone, including the...
8.0K
01:24Bone Formation by Endochondral Ossification
8.5K
Bone formation, or ossification, begins around the sixth to seventh week of embryonic development. Most bones develop from a cartilaginous template through the process of endochondral ossification. Cartilage formation begins when clusters of mesenchymal cells differentiate into chondrocytes. These chondrocytes proliferate rapidly and secrete an extracellular matrix that becomes encased in a membrane called the perichondrium. The resulting cartilage model provides a template that resembles the...
8.5K
01:27Growth of Cartilage and Bone Tissue
4.0K
Chondrocytes form a temporary cartilaginous model by dividing and secreting a thick gel-like extracellular matrix. Once the chondrocytes undergo programmed cell death, osteoblasts enter the site of the cartilaginous model. The process of replacing the temporary cartilaginous model with bone in an ordered manner is called endochondral ossification. In endochondral ossification, not all of the cartilage is replaced by bone tissue. Some cartilage that performs a protective and supportive function...
4.0K
00:57Cellular Differentiation
5.1K
How does a complex organism such as a human develop from a single cell? It all starts from a single fertilized egg which gives rise to a vast array of cell types, such as nerve cells, muscle cells, and epithelial cells that characterize the adult? Throughout development and adulthood, cellular differentiation leads cells to assume their final morphology and physiology. Differentiation is the process by which unspecialized cells become specialized to carry out distinct functions.
A zygote is a...
A zygote is a...
5.1K