No Bones About It: New Details About Skeletal Cell Aging Revealed

Originally published at cockrell.utexas.edu on April 04, 2025

 


It's no coincidence that our bodies feel a little creakier as we age. The trillions of cells that make up our skeleton age too, and some change in ways that weaken the very structure of our bones.

Scientists and researchers around the globe are investigating a series of mysteries about what happens to our bones over time. In a new study, a team led by The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center just made a major break in the case. New research found that osteocytes undergo dramatic structural and functional changes with age that impair their ability to keep our bones strong. Their findings, published in Small and Aging Cell, offer new insights that could pave the way for better treatments for osteoporosis and age-related bone loss.

 


Aging and stress can induce cellular senescence in osteocytes, resulting in cytoskeletal and mechanical changes that impair their ability to sense mechanical signals, ultimately weakening bone.

Osteocytes are the master regulators of bone health, sensing mechanical forces and directing when to build or break down bone. But when exposed to senescent cells – damaged cells that stop dividing but don’t die – osteocytes themselves begin to stiffen. This cytoskeletal stiffening and altered plasma membrane viscoelasticity undermine their ability to respond to mechanical signals, disrupting healthy bone remodeling and leading to bone fragility.

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