This 2011 narrative review by Bonewald synthesizes a decade of molecular and transgenic evidence redefining the osteocyte as an active orchestrator of bone remodeling and a bona fide endocrine cell. It asks: what do osteocytes actually do, and why does their death matter clinically? The paper covers mechanosensation, sclerostin/Wnt signaling, perilacunar remodeling, phosphate metabolism via FGF-23, and the consequences of osteocyte death.
This 2011 narrative review by Bonewald synthesizes a decade of molecular and transgenic evidence redefining the osteocyte as an active orchestrator of bone remodeling and a bona fide endocrine cell. It asks: what do osteocytes actually do, and why does their death matter clinically? The paper covers mechanosensation, sclerostin/Wnt signaling, perilacunar remodeling, phosphate metabolism via FGF-23, and the consequences of osteocyte death.