MIDTERMS_ Anaphy Lecture

Chapter 6: Skeletal System

Major functions of the skeletal system:
1. Support
2. Protection
3. Movement
4. Storage
5. Blood Cell Production

- Skeleton: the term is derived from the Greek

word skellein meaning “dried” or “dried up”.

- The skeletal system consists of bones as well as

associated connective tissues which include
cartilage, tendons, and ligaments.

Extracellular Matrix
 Collagen, ground substance, and other organic molecules, as well as water and minerals
 Proteoglycans (water-filled)
 Hydroxyapatite

GENERAL FEATURES OF BONE

6 classifications of bones:
1. Long bones
2. Short bones
3. Flat bones
4. Irregular bones
5. Sesamoid bones
6. Sutural bones

 Sesamoid bones- are embedded within

tendons or a muscle.
 The largest sesamoid bone is the kneecap.
 Patella

 Sutural bones- Wormian bones, also known as

intramural bones or sutural bones, are extra
bone pieces that can occur within a suture
(joint) in the skull.
Structure of Long bone

 Central shaft: Diaphysis

 Epiphysis: two ends of a long bone.
 Epiphyseal plate: growth plate (becomes epiphyseal line when bone growth stops).
 Cavities: Medullary cavity in diaphysis as well as in epiphyses and in interior of other bones.

Red bone marrow and Yellow marrow

 Soft tissue called marrow fills up medullary cavities.
 Yellow marrow: mostly adipose.
 Red marrow: also called myeloid tissue, is soft, gelatinous tissue that fills the cavities of the bones; consists of
blood forming-cells, the only site of blood formation in adults.
 Children: have more red marrow than adults.
 Red marrow is mostly replaced by yellow marrow as a person age.
 In adults: red marrow is confined to the central axis of the body most proximal epiphyses of the limbs.
 Red marrow in adult is found mainly in the flat bones such as
hip bone, sternum (breast bone), skull, ribs, vertebrae and
shoulder blades (scapula), and in the spongy material at the
proximal ends of the long bones femur and humerus (limb
bones).

 Bone marrow takes over from the liver as the major hematopoietic organ at 32 to 36 weeks gestation (8-9 mos.
pregnancy).
 Bone marrow remains red until around the age of 7 years, as the need for new continuous blood formation is
high. As the body ages, the red marrow is gradually replaced by yellow fat tissue.

HISTOLOGY of BONE CELLS

 Osteoblasts (cells found in periosteum and endosteum): function in bone formation, repair, and remodeling of
bone.
 Osteocytes: these are osteoblasts surrounded by a matrix.
 Osteoclasts (bone-destroying cells): function in repair and remodeling.

 The outer surface of the bone is covered by

dense connective tissue called PERIOSTEUM.

 The surface of the medullary cavity is lined with

a thinner connective tissue membrane called the
ENDOSTEUM.

 Bone is formed in thin sheets of extracellular

matrix (lamellae) with osteocytes between the
lamellae within spaces called lacunae.

 Cell processes extended from osteocytes across

the extracellular matrix of the lamellae within
tiny canals (canaliculi).
Compact bone
 also called cortical bone
 Forms the perimeter of the diaphysis of a long bone and the thinner surfaces of all other bones.
 has more matrix
 denser, with fewer pores
 with repeating units called osteons.
 Each osteon consists of concentric rings of lamellae surrounding a central canal or Haversian canal.

Spongy bone
 very porous
 located in the epiphyses of long bones
 has less bone matrix and more open space
 Consists of trabeculae (delicate interconnecting rods or plates of bone).
 Trabeculae resembles scaffolding of a building.
 BONE OSSIFICATION
 Formation of bone by osteoblasts
 Osteoblasts surrounded by matrix become osteocytes (mature bone cells)
 In fetal bone development: Intramembranous ossification and Endochondral ossification; both types result to
compact and spongy bone

Intramembranous ossification
 Osteoblasts produce bone within connective tissue membranes occurs in fetal skull.
 Osteoblasts line up the on surface of connective tissue fibers, depositing bone matrix to form trabeculae.
 Process begins in ossifications centers, trabeculae radiate out from the center.
 Mature skull bones originate from fusion of these centers as they enlarge.

Endochondral ossification
• Bones at the base of the skull and most of the remaining skeletal system develop through the process of endochondral
ossification from preformed hyaline cartilage models.
 BONE GROWTH

 Occurs by the deposition of new bone lamellae onto the existing bone or other connective tissue .
 Appositional growth: as osteoblasts deposit new bone matrix on the surface of the bones between the
periosteum and the existing bone matrix, the bone increases in width or diameter.
 Growth in the length of a bone-occurs in epiphyseal plate. This type of bone growth occurs thru endochondral
ossification.

BONE REMODELING

 The removal of existing bone by osteoclasts and the deposition of new bone by osteoblasts and occurs in all
bone.
 Remodeling is responsible for changes in bone shape, adjustment of bone to stress, bone repair, and calcium ion
regulation in the body fluids.
 Remodeling is involved in bone growth.
 Bone remodeling is important to maintain blood calcium levels within normal limits.

BONE AND CALCIUM HOMEOSTASIS

- Bone is the major storage site for calcium in the body.
- Movement of calcium into and out of the bone helps determine blood calcium levels, which is critical for normal
muscle and nervous system function.
 - Calcium (Ca) moves into bone as osteoblasts build new bone.
- Calcium (Ca) moves out as osteoclasts break down bone.
- When osteoblast and osteoclast activity is balanced, the movements of calcium into and out of a bone are equal.
- Calcium is removed from the bones when blood calcium levels decrease.
- Calcium is deposited in bone when dietary calcium is adequate.
- If too much bone is deposited, the bones become thick or develop abnormally spurs or projections.
- Too little bone formation or too much bone removal as occurs in osteoporosis, weakens the bones and makes
them susceptible to fracture.

CALCIUM HOMEOSTASIS
Maintained by 3 hormones:

1. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) from the parathyroid gland

2. Vitamin D (from skin and diet)
3. Calcitonin (from the Thyroid gland)

1. PARATHYROID HORMONE

Works thru 3 simultaneous mechanisms to increase blood calcium levels:

1. PTH indirectly stimulates osteoclasts to break-down bone, which releases stored Ca into the blood.
2. PTH stimulates the kidney to take up Ca from the urine and return it to the blood.
3. PTH stimulates the formation of active Vit. D, which in turn, promotes increased Ca absorption from the small
intestine.

2. VITAMIN D
 The liver and kidneys convert vitamin D (produced in the skin and taken up in the diet), into the active hormone,
which is called calcitriol. Active vitamin D helps to increase the amount of calcium the gut can absorb from
eaten food into the bloodstream and also prevents calcium loss from the kidneys.

3. CALCITONIN
 Works to decrease blood Ca levels by inhibiting osteoclast activity
 Calcitonin maintains homeostatic blood calcium levels by decreasing calcium levels that are too high.
 REVIEWER

1. Epiphyseal plate 1. The growth of the bone in length occurs in which part of the bone?

2. Red marrow 2. It consists of blood-forming cells and is the only site of blood formation in adults.

3. Bone ossification 3. It is the formation of bone by osteoblasts.

4. Appositional growth 4. When bone increases in width or diameter, this is what kind of growth?

5. Bone remodeling 5. The removal of existing bone by osteoclasts and the deposition of new bone by
osteoblasts and occurs in all bone.

6. Parathyroid Hormone/ PTH 6. The secretion of this hormone is triggered by an increase in calcium in the blood. What
is this hormone?

7. Calcitriol/ Vitamin D 7. It promotes increased calcium absorption from the gut or small intestine. Identify this
hormone.

8. Parathyroid Hormone/ PTH 8. It stimulates the kidney to take up calcium from the urine and return it to the blood,
what is it?

9. Calcium 9. When osteoclast break down bone, what is being released into the blood?

10. Bone 10. What is the major storage site for calcium?