Bone remodeling and biological effects of mechanical stimulus

Abstract

This review describes the physiology of normal bone tissue as an introduction to the subsequent discussion on bone remodeling and biomechanical stimulus. As a complex architecture with heterogeneous and anisotropic hierarchy, the skeletal bone has been anatomically analysed with different levelling principles, extending from nano- to the whole bone scale. With the interpretation of basic bone histomorphology, the main compositions in bone are summarized, including various organic proteins in the bone matrix and inorganic minerals as the reinforcement. The cell populations that actively participate in the bone remodeling—osteoclasts, osteoblasts and osteocytes—have also been discussed since they are the main operators in bone resorption and formation. A variety of factors affect the bone remodeling, such as hormones, cytokines, mechanical stimulus and electromagnetic stimulus. As a particularly potent stimulus for bone cells, mechanical forces play a crucial role in enhancing bone strength and preventing bone loss with aging. By combing all these aspects together, the information lays the groundwork for systematically understanding the link between bone physiology and orchestrated process of mechanically mediated bone homoestasis.