Questions of quality and quantity--a morphological view of bone biology

The quality of bone may be as important as its quantity, influencing bone strength and turnover. Using quantitative BSE (backscattered electron) imaging, we have found changes in the mineral density of bone with age, the proportion of denser bone increasing, and discontinuities occurring in the mineral phase between packets of bone. SEM of resorptive fields showed that severing of trabeculae occurs with deep, vertical excavations; their thinning is by long, narrow, resorption grooves extending from node to node. Grooved regions may become deeper, undercut and burrowing. In vitro, we showed that larger osteoclasts made larger pits. However, the volume of tissue resorbed per nucleus did not increase, and could decrease. Interactions between osteoclasts and autologous osteoblastic cells were observed by time-lapse video microscopy in vitro. Message-mediated contact behaviour, dependent upon the state of activation of both cell types, resulted in changes in the territory of the responding cell. The numbers and sizes of gap junctions between rat parietal bone cells in situ were investigated using confocal fluorescence and reflection microscopy and polyclonal antisera to connexin-43 peptides. The junctions reached approximately 1.3 microns in diameter, with 0.2 microns as the limit of detection. The extent of connectivity and communication may also affect bone quality.