page_title: Osteoblast
hierarchical_section_title: Osteoblast
caption_attribution_description: English: Very high magnification micrograph of bone in hypercalcemia. H&amp;E stain. Brown tumour is present. Brown tumours are lesions that result from hypercalcemia. They are not true neoplasms.&#91;1&#93; Related images Low mag. Low mag. Intermed. mag. Intermed. mag. High mag. Very high mag. Low mag. Intermed. mag. High mag. Very high mag. High mag. Very high mag. References ↑ Meydan N, Barutca S, Guney E, et al.&#32;(June 2006).&#32;"Brown tumors mimicking bone metastases". J Natl Med Assoc&#32;98&#32;(6): 950–3. PMID 16775919. PMC: 2569361.
context_page_description: Osteoblasts are cells with a single nucleus that synthesize bone. However, in the process of bone formation, osteoblasts function in groups of connected cells. Individual cells cannot make bone. A group of organized osteoblasts together with the bone made by a unit of cells is usually called the osteon.
  Osteoblasts are specialized, terminally differentiated products of mesenchymal stem cells. They synthesize dense, crosslinked collagen and specialized proteins in much smaller quantities, including osteocalcin and osteopontin, which compose the organic matrix of bone.
  In organized groups of connected cells, osteoblasts produce hydroxylapatite - the bone mineral, that is deposited in a highly regulated manner, into the organic matrix forming a strong and dense mineralized tissue - the mineralized matrix. The mineralized skeleton is the main support for the bodies of air breathing vertebrates. It is an important store of minerals for physiological homeostasis including both acid-base balance and calcium or phosphate maintenance.
context_section_description: Osteoblasts (from the Greek combining forms for "bone", ὀστέο-, osteo- and βλαστάνω, blastanō "germinate") are cells with a single nucleus that synthesize bone. However, in the process of bone formation, osteoblasts function in groups of connected cells. Individual cells cannot make bone. A group of organized osteoblasts together with the bone made by a unit of cells is usually called the osteon.
  Osteoblasts are specialized, terminally differentiated products of mesenchymal stem cells. They synthesize dense, crosslinked collagen and specialized proteins in much smaller quantities, including osteocalcin and osteopontin, which compose the organic matrix of bone.
  In organized groups of connected cells, osteoblasts produce hydroxylapatite - the bone mineral, that is deposited in a highly regulated manner, into the organic matrix forming a strong and dense mineralized tissue - the mineralized matrix. The mineralized skeleton is the main support for the bodies of air breathing vertebrates. It is an important store of minerals for physiological homeostasis including both acid-base balance and calcium or phosphate maintenance.
caption: Osteoblasts (purple) rimming a bony spicule (pink - on diagonal of image). In this routinely fixed and decalcified (bone mineral removed) tissue, the osteoblasts have retracted and are separated from each other and from their underlying matrix. In living bone, the cells are linked by tight junctions and gap junctions, and integrated with underlying osteocytes and matrix H&E stain.
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