Posted by This project is about the 4 bone cells in the human body. The red color is the osteoclast, and the blue is the osteoblast. Below them are the osteocytes, and the thin layer of yellow is the bone layer, or osteogenic cells. The first painting shows regular activity for these 4 bone cells. The second painting shows the effects of osteoporosis on the bone. It represents more osteoclast activity and osteocyte death inside the bone.
Jaden chose to do his STEAM project on osteoporosis, and how it specifically affects each of the four types of cells in bone. By doing this, his essay and project connects to our course objective of identifying the 4 cells that make up bone tissue. His project also briefly connects to our objective of explaining how bone development is hormonally regulated.
As covered in our course, Osteoporosis is a disease in which bones become less strong and dense as we age. Jaden’s essay goes beyond the scope of the class by pointing out exactly how each type of bone cell responds to the changes caused by osteoporosis. Osteoblast activity is decreased by osteoporosis due to an impairment in Bone Morphogenetic Proteins. Osteoclasts become more active in people with osteoporosis due to the decreased levels of calcium associated with the disease. This response also includes the hormonal messages sent from the parathyroid. Osteocytes receive cell death signals through canaliculi as a response to osteoporosis. Finally, osteogenic cells are degraded through the secretion of collagenase, which removes bone matrix.
All of these consequences of osteoporosis on the bone cells were represented in Jaden’s painting. First he painted regular cellular activity of the four types of cells described above, then he painted the cellular activity of someone with osteoporosis. Dead osteocytes are represented by the color black. Additionally, we can see an increased expression of the red osteoclasts in the second painting, which signifies an increase in bone tissue breakdown. Overall, Jaden was able to effectively use color across his two paintings to highlight the differences between a healthy individual and one with osteoporosis. His essay also clearly laid out the cellular response of this disease on bone tissue.