Variable conformation of GAP junctions linking bone cells: a transmission electron microscopic study of linear,...

There is a marked variability in the conformation of bone cell gap junctions in newborn murine cortical bone as defined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Studies were done in newborn BALB/c mouse and Sprague-Dawley rat femurs and tibias. Femoral and tibial cortices were dissected into 1 mm3 fragments and prepared in standardized fashion using modified Karnovsky fixation, 7.5% EDTA decalcification, 1% osmium tetroxide-sym collidine buffer with 1% lanthanum nitrate postfixation, Epon resin, 60 nm sections, lead citrate/uranyl acetate staining, and examination at 60 kV. Previous TEM descriptions of bone junctions have, with rare exceptions, noted only isolated linear or mildly curvilinear structures. In this study we noted gap junctional shapes on thin-section TEM preparations of osteoblasts and osteocytes to be extremely variable and complex encompassing linear, curvilinear, stacked linear, oval, and annular conformations. Multiple observations revealed linear gap junctions linking surface osteoblast cell bodies; linear, curvilinear, stacked linear, and oval junctions linking osteoblast processes in osteoid; linear and curvilinear junctions where cell processes joined with osteocyte cell bodies and each of the five conformations linking osteocyte processes within canaliculi. The annular junctions were found within osteoblast and osteocyte cytoplasm and in osteocyte cell processes within canaliculi. The annular junctions are intracellular, degenerating structures which appear as ultrastructural markers of gap junction involution. The more complex shapes reported here must be considered in (1) interpreting quantitative studies using freeze-fracture replicas, thin sections, and confocal microscopy immunolabeled junction connexin-43 components and (2) assessing gap junction biogenesis and turnover. 3-D reconstruction of bone junctions will enhance our understanding of these complex conformations.