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In situ measurement of solute transport in the bone lacunar-canalicular system.

ABSTRACT: Solute transport through the bone lacunar-canalicular system is believed to be essential for osteocyte survival and function but has proved difficult to measure. We report an approach that permits direct measurement of real-time solute movement in intact bones. By using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, the movement of a vitally injected fluorescent dye (sodium fluorescein) among individual osteocytic lacunae was visualized in situ beneath the periosteal surface of mouse cortical bone at depths up to 50 microm with laser scanning confocal microscopy. Transport was analyzed by using a two-compartment mathematical model of solute diffusion that accounted for the characteristic anatomical features of the lacunar-canalicular system. The diffusion coefficient of fluorescein (376 Da) was determined to be 3.3 +/- 0.6 x 10(-6) cm2/sec, which is 62% of its diffusion coefficient in water and is similar to diffusion coefficients measured for comparably sized molecules in cartilage. The diffusion of fluorescein in bone is also consistent with the presence of an osteocyte pericellular matrix whose structure resembles that proposed for the endothelial glycocalyx [Squire, J. M., Chew, M., Nneji, G., Neal, C., Barry, J. & Michel, C. (2001) J. Struct. Biol. 136, 239-255]. To our knowledge, this is the first instance where the dynamics of molecular movement has been measured directly in the bone lacunar-canalicular system. This in situ imaging approach should also facilitate the analysis of convection-based transport mechanisms in bones of living animals.

SUBMITTER: Wang L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1187997 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Osteocytes, the most abundant cells in bone, are essential in maintaining tissue homeostasis and orchestrating bone's mechanical adaptation. Osteocytes depend upon load-induced convection within the lacunar-canalicular system (LCS) to maintain viability and to sense their mechanical environment. Using the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) imaging approach, we previously quantified the convection of a small tracer (sodium fluorescein, 376 Da) in the murine tibial LCS under intermittent cyclic loading. In the present study, we first expanded the investigation of solute transport using a larger tracer (parvalbumin, 12.3 kDa), which is comparable in size to some signaling proteins secreted by osteocytes. Murine tibiae were subjected to sequential FRAP tests under rest-inserted cyclic loading while the loading magnitude (0, 2.8, or 4.8 N) and frequency (0.5, 1, or 2 Hz) were varied. The characteristic transport rate k and the transport enhancement relative to diffusion (k/k0) were measured under each loading condition, from which the peak solute velocity in the LCS was derived using our LCS transport model. Both the transport enhancement and solute velocity increased with loading magnitude and decreased with loading frequency. Furthermore, the solute-matrix interaction, quantified in terms of the reflection coefficient through the osteocytic pericellular matrix (PCM), was measured and theoretically modeled. The reflection coefficient of parvalbumin (? = 0.084) was derived from the differential fluid and solute velocities within loaded bone. Using a newly developed PCM sieving model, the PCM's fiber configurations accounting for the measured interactions were obtained for the first time. The present study provided not only new data on the micro-fluidic environment experienced by osteocytes in situ but also a powerful quantitative tool for future study of the PCM, the critical interface that controls both outside-in and inside-out signaling in osteocytes during normal bone adaptation and in pathological conditions.

Project description:The pericellular matrix (PCM), a thin coating surrounding nearly all mammalian cells, plays a critical role in many cell-surface phenomena. In osteocytes, the PCM is believed to control both "outside-in" (mechanosensing) and "inside-out" (signaling molecule transport) processes. However, the osteocytic PCM is challenging to study in situ because it is thin (?100?nm) and enclosed in mineralized matrix. To this end, we recently developed a novel tracer velocimetry approach that combined fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) imaging with hydrodynamic modeling to quantify the osteocytic PCM in young murine bone. In this study, we applied the technique to older mice expressing or deficient for perlecan/HSPG2, a large heparan-sulfate proteoglycan normally secreted in osteocytic PCM. The objectives were (1) to characterize transport within an altered PCM; (2) to test the sensitivity of our approach in detecting the PCM alterations; and (3) to dissect the roles of the PCM in osteocyte mechanosensing. We found that: (1) solute transport increases in the perlecan-deficient (hypomorphic [Hypo]) mice compared with control mice; (2) PCM fiber density decreases with aging and perlecan deficiency; (3) osteocytes in the Hypo bones are predicted to experience higher shear stress (+34%), but decreased fluid drag force (-35%) under 3-N peak tibial loading; and (4) when subjected to tibial loading in a preliminary in vivo experiment, the Hypo mice did not respond to the anabolic stimuli as the CTL mice did. These findings support the hypothesis that the PCM fibers act as osteocyte's sensing antennae, regulating load-induced cellular stimulations and thus bone's sensitivity and in vivo bone adaptation. If this hypothesis is further confirmed, osteocytic PCM could be new targets to develop osteoporosis treatments by modulating bone's intrinsic sensitivity to mechanical loading and be used to design patient-specific exercise regimens to promote bone formation.

Project description:In situ, cells of the musculoskeletal system reside within complex and often interconnected 3-D environments. Key to better understanding how 3-D tissue and cellular environments regulate musculoskeletal physiology, homeostasis, and health is the use of robust methodologies for directly visualizing cell-cell and cell-matrix architecture in situ. However, the use of standard optical imaging techniques is often of limited utility in deep imaging of intact musculoskeletal tissues due to the highly scattering nature of biological tissues. Drawing inspiration from recent developments in the deep-tissue imaging field, we describe the application of immersion based optical clearing techniques, which utilize the principle of refractive index (RI) matching between the clearing/mounting media and tissue under observation, to improve the deep, in situ imaging of musculoskeletal tissues. To date, few optical clearing techniques have been applied specifically to musculoskeletal tissues, and a systematic comparison of the clearing ability of optical clearing agents in musculoskeletal tissues has yet to be fully demonstrated. In this study we tested the ability of eight different aqueous and non-aqueous clearing agents, with RIs ranging from 1.45 to 1.56, to optically clear murine knee joints and cortical bone. We demonstrated and quantified the ability of these optical clearing agents to clear musculoskeletal tissues and improve both macro- and micro-scale imaging of musculoskeletal tissue across several imaging modalities (stereomicroscopy, spectroscopy, and one-, and two-photon confocal microscopy) and investigational techniques (dynamic bone labeling and en bloc tissue staining). Based upon these findings we believe that optical clearing, in combination with advanced imaging techniques, has the potential to complement classical musculoskeletal analysis techniques; opening the door for improved in situ investigation and quantification of musculoskeletal tissues.

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In situ measurement of solute transport in the bone lacunar-canalicular system.

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