An osteoblast that has become embedded within bone matrix, occupying a flat oval cavity (bone lacuna). Cells found in bone lacunae send, through canaliculi, slender cytoplasmic processes that make contact with processes of other osteocytes and osteoblasts.
Mature osteoblasts surrounded by calcified bone that help regulate the process of bone remodeling.
A bone cell formed from an osteoblast or bone-forming cell that has stopped its activity. The cell is embedded in the matrix of the bone.
A mesodermal bone-forming cell that has become entrapped within the bone matrix. It lies within a lacuna with processes extending outward through canaliculi and, by its metabolic activity, helps to maintain bone as a living tissue.