Electrical signal transmission and gap junction regulation in a bone cell network:​ a cable model for an osteon

Zhang, Dajun<sup>1</sup>; Cowin, Stephen C.<sup>1</sup>; Weinbaum, Sheldon<sup>1</sup>

Affiliations

¹CUNY Graduate School and Department of Mechanical Engineering, The City College of City University of New York, New York, NY

Abstract and keywords

A cabel model is formulated to estimate the spatial distribution of intracellular electric potential and current, from the cement line to the lumen of an osteon, as the frequency of the loading and the conductance of the gap junction are altered. The model predicts that the characteristic diffusion time for the, spread of current along the membrane of the osteocytic processes, 0.03 sec, is nearly the same as the predicted pore pressure relaxation time in Zenget al. (Annals of Biomedical Engineering. 1994) for the draining of the bone fluid into the osteonal canal. This approximate equality of characteristic times causes the cable to behave as a high-pass, low-pass filter cascade with a maximum in the spectral response for the intracellular potential at approximately 30 Hz. This behavior could be related to the experimetns of Rubin and McLeod (Osteoporosis, Academic Press, 1996) which show that live bone appears to be selectively responsive to mechanical loading in a specific frequency range (15–30 Hz) for several species.

Keywords: Gap junction; Cell communication; Osteoblast; Bone cell network; Osteon; Osteocytic process; Osteocyte; Strain generated potential; Streaming potential; Poroelasticity

Links

DOI: 10.1007/BF02648049

PubMed: 9084840

WoS: A1997WN69400012

History

Received: 1995-05-31

Revised: 1996-03-28

Revised: 1996-06-20

Accepted: 1996-06-20

Cited Works (12)

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Cited By (12)

Year	Entry
2007	Cowin SC, Doty SB. Bone tissue. In: Tissue Mechanics. Boca Raton, FL: Springer; 2007:341-384.
2007	Cowin SC, Doty SB. Bone tissue adaptation. In: Tissue Mechanics. Boca Raton, FL: Springer; 2007:385-424.
2002	Currey JD. Bones: Structure and Mechanics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2002.
2009	Fritton SP, Weinbaum S. Fluid and solute transport in bone: flow-induced mechanotransduction. Annu Rev Fluid Mech. 2009;41:347-374.
1999	Burger EH, Klein-Nulend J. Mechanotransduction in bone: role of the lacunocanalicular network. FASEB J. May 1999;12(9001):S101-S112.
1999	Cowin SC. Bone poroelasticity. J Biomech. March 1999;32(3):217-238.
1998	Zhang D, Weinbaum S, Cowin SC. Estimates of the peak pressures in bone pore water. J Biomech Eng. December 1998;120(6):697-703.
2008	Kogianni G, Mann V, Noble BS. Apoptotic bodies convey activity capable of initiating osteoclastogenesis and localized bone destruction. J Bone Miner Res. June 2008;23(6):915-927.
1997	Zhang D. Electromechanical Mechanisms of Bone Remodeling [PhD thesis]. New York, NY: The City University of New York; 1997.
2002	Wang L. Investigating the Role of Interstitial Fluid Flow in Bone Adaptation and Metabolism [PhD thesis]. New York, NY: The City University of New York; 2002.
2002	You L. A New View of Mechanotransduction in Bone Cells [PhD thesis]. New York, NY: The City University of New York; 2002.
2004	Thi MM. Cellular Communication and Mechanotransduction in Response to Fluid Shear Stress [PhD thesis]. New York, NY: The City University of New York; 2004.