Figure 1.

Bone is constructed with a special “wire mesh”: osteocytes and their dendrites (Representative data from 2-4 animals for each assay). (a) Acid-etched SEM images from mouse bones revealed a “rod and wire mesh-like” structure, in which osteocytes work as a rod and their dendrites behave as mesh in all bones tested, including calvaria (upper left), mandible (lower), and long bones (upper right) (n = 4). (b) The backscattered TEM image showed fibers in lacunae that differ from the classic collagens in bone matrices, including distribution patterns and fiber size (N=nucleus) (n = 2). (c) The TEM image displayed a grey color in the lacunae area (n = 3). (d) The immunostain showed high levels of biglycan in the lacunae region (n = 3). (e) The working hypothesis was that the osteocyte-dendrite structure is similar to a rod and wire mesh building structure.