Nuclear and nucleolar kinetics in multinucleate osteoclasts in the chick development and after the hormonal treatment

This study demonstrates the changes in the number of nuclei, number of nucleolar silver-stained granules, and the incidence of the morphological types of nucleoli in the chick osteoclast ontogeny and after the parathormone and calcitonin treatment. The number of cell nuclei was increased during the ontogeny and after the parathormone treatment. The number of silver-stained nucleolar granules decreased during the ontogeny. Parathormone and calcitonin did not influence the number of silver-stained granules, and an insignificant effect on the number of nuclei was detected after the calcitonin application. The compact nucleoli and/or nucleoli with nucleolonema prevailed in all the investigated developmental stages of the chick. The nucleoli in multinucleate osteoclasts are active from the morphological point of view. A relationship between the nucleolar function and the number of nuclei in one cell could be possible.