Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
1996-02-01Keywords
Animals; Bone and Bones; Calcification, Physiologic; Dogs; *Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Osteopetrosis; Rats; Specimen Handling; *Tooth EruptionLife Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The metabolic activity of bone cells is faithfully reflected in the surface topography of mineralized bone surfaces, and this can be easily detected by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Forming bone surfaces exhibit knobby projections which represent foci of mineralization, resorbing surfaces are scalloped, and resting surfaces undergoing neither activity are smooth, as shown by Boyde and Hobdell 25 years ago. These phenomena are illustrated in vivo by tooth eruption, a local activity in alveolar bone where resorption and formation are polarized around an erupting tooth, and osteopetrosis, a metabolic bone disease characterized by a congenital reduction or absence of bone resorption. The ability to analyze bone metabolism over large areas of the skeleton by SEM offers a convenient and powerful microscopic technique to assess regional and global bone cell activity in an era where the investigative focus is increasingly molecular.Source
Microsc Res Tech. 1996 Feb 1;33(2):121-7. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1002/(SICI)1097-0029(19960201)33:2<121::AID-JEMT3>3.0.CO;2-WPermanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/34149PubMed ID
8845512Related Resources
Link to article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/(SICI)1097-0029(19960201)33:2<121::AID-JEMT3>3.0.CO;2-W