title: The osteocyte lineage.
abstract: The osteocyte resides in the lacuna/canalicular system in bone and has been hypothesized to orchestrate local bone remodeling. Certainly the identification of the osteocyte as the source of Sclerostin, a molecule that regulates osteoblast function, has supported this possibility. As our understanding of this cell increases it has become clear that it has more far reaching influence than simply local bone turnover activity. The osteocyte is also the source of DMP-1 and FGF-23, the later being a hormone that regulates kidney function in terms of phosphate uptake. We now see the osteocyte as having important roles both locally in the skeleton and also in other distant tissues. The study of osteocyte biology has reached a particularly exiting level of maturity and illustrates the value of this cell type as a drug discovery target.
authors.affiliation: Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering Collaboration (MTEC), MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh Medical School, The Chancellor's Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK. Brendon.Noble@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Brendon S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Noble
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000818:Animals; D001857:Bone Matrix / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001862:Bone Resorption / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000502:physiology*; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000089703:Fibroblast Growth Factor-23; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D010011:Osteocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D010012:Osteogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; C513309:DMP1 protein, human; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; C000717427:FGF23 protein, human; D005819:Genetic Markers; D010750:Phosphoproteins; C422903:SOST protein, human; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors; D000089703:Fibroblast Growth Factor-23