Fig. 2

Ageing-related morphological changes in osteocytes. a–c Micromorphology of osteocytes in young mouse cortical bone, shown by TEM. Osteocyte shape (a) and the ultrastructure of osteocyte processes (b, c). The connecting fibers between cell processes and pericanalicular matrix, indicated by a black arrow (c). In the aged bone, osteocyte dendrites lack fibers anchoring to the canalicular wall (i). d–l TEM images of osteocytes in aged mouse cortical bone. Aged osteocytes show a variety of abnormal cytomorphological features: cytoplasmic lysis (d, e), indicated by a white star; empty cytoplasm (f–h), indicated by a black star; and (j–l) abnormal forms of the nucleus, shrinkage (j), and swelling (k, l)