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Comment
. 2021 Mar 4;184(5):1137-1139.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.023. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Bone resorption goes green

Jameel Iqbal  1 , Mone Zaidi  2
Affiliations
Comment

Bone resorption goes green

Jameel Iqbal et al. Cell. .

Abstract

In this issue of Cell, McDonald et al. show that giant multinucleated, bone-resorbing osteoclasts dissolve into smaller cells, termed "osteopmorhs," which re-form into osteoclasts at distal bone sites (McDonald et al., 2021). These findings overturn the long-standing premise that osteoclasts differentiate solely from hematopoietic precursors and undergo apoptosis after completing resorption.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests M.Z. is inventor of various patents, filed or approved, on FSH, bone, and body composition—these patents are held by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and M.Z. will receive royalties, if these arise, in accordance with Medical School policy. However, these patents are not related to the manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Cellular recycling in bone with giant osteoclasts broken down into smaller osteomorphs allowing for their reuse at other resorption sites
Large multinucleated osteoclasts are the only cells known to degrade bone in a process termed resorption. It has been surmised that when resorption is no longer required at a particular bone site, osteoclasts undergo apoptosis. Nonetheless, McDonald et al. (2021) show that the normal process is for osteoclasts to undergo a fission event into smaller cells called osteomorphs. These smaller daughter cells are transcriptionally distinct from osteoclasts and can either remain in waiting to be called when needed, or alternatively travel to other sites in bone where resorption is required, where they fuse together to recreate a giant multinucleated osteoclast
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

  • Osteoclasts recycle via osteomorphs during RANKL-stimulated bone resorption.
    McDonald MM, Khoo WH, Ng PY, Xiao Y, Zamerli J, Thatcher P, Kyaw W, Pathmanandavel K, Grootveld AK, Moran I, Butt D, Nguyen A, Corr A, Warren S, Biro M, Butterfield NC, Guilfoyle SE, Komla-Ebri D, Dack MRG, Dewhurst HF, Logan JG, Li Y, Mohanty ST, Byrne N, Terry RL, Simic MK, Chai R, Quinn JMW, Youlten SE, Pettitt JA, Abi-Hanna D, Jain R, Weninger W, Lundberg M, Sun S, Ebetino FH, Timpson P, Lee WM, Baldock PA, Rogers MJ, Brink R, Williams GR, Bassett JHD, Kemp JP, Pavlos NJ, Croucher PI, Phan TG. McDonald MM, et al. Cell. 2021 Mar 4;184(5):1330-1347.e13. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.002. Epub 2021 Feb 25. Cell. 2021. PMID: 33636130 Free PMC article.

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