Analysis of Osteocyte Morphology in Terms of Sensation of <i>In </i><i>Vivo</i> Stress Applied on Bone

Abstract

Most bones are anisotropically loaded and seem to be adapted to the anisotropic stress or strain field by changing the anisotropy in their microstructure. Osteocyte (OCY) is believed to play an important role as a mechanosensor and regulator of modeling and/or remodeling orchestrating osteoblast and osteoclast activity to make bone suitable to resist the mechanical environment. In general, osteocytes sense magnitude of stress (strain) applied upon the bone and then work as a trigger to change bone mass to adjust bone’s mechanical function to the stress field. This structural optimization is an important aspect of the bone functional adaptation; another inevitable optimization might be achieved through the change in intrinsic material anisotropy including the preferential c-axis orientation of biological apatite (BAp) crystal. To achieve this adaptation through material anisotropy, osteocyte needs to be a mechanosensor which can detect anisotropic stress field. In the present study, osteocyte lacunae and canaliculi in the mid-diaphysis and the distal part of the rat femur were stained by a fluorescein dye for visualization and analysis. The mid-diaphysis shows greater degree of the preferential c-axis orientation of BAp crystal than the distal part in relation to the magnitude of uni-axial stress field. It was found that the osteocytes in long bone preferentially align along the bone long axis and the degree of alignment is greater in the mid-diaphysis than in the distal region, which seems to be effective for the sensation of the site-dependent specific stress field applied on the long bone.