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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Nov 28.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2020 Sep 8;21(11):696–711. doi: 10.1038/s41580-020-00279-w

Fig. 3 |. Long bone anatomy.

Fig. 3 |

The metaphysis contains the epiphyseal growth plate, the site of new longitudinal bone growth. This area can be categorized into five zones: the reserve, proliferative, hypertrophy, calcification and ossification zones. The reserve zone contains quiescent chondrocytes found towards the epiphyseal end of the bone. The proliferative zone contains chondrocytes that undergo rapid proliferation. The hypertrophy zone contains chondrocytes that stop proliferating and begin to undergo rapid growth. The calcified zone contains cells that begin to undergo apoptosis and their matrix begins to calcify. The ossification zone contains mature and terminally committed osteoblasts that help lay down mineralized bone.