Acta Anthropologica Sinica ›› 2020, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (04): 564-575.doi: 10.16359/j.cnki.cn11-1963/q.2020.0048

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Osteons and osteocyte lacunae in belanger’s treeshrews (Tupaia belangeri chinensis) - A qualitative image comparative study

Vijaya Lakshmi Pavani MOLLI1, Anubhav JAIN2, FU Jiangnan3, WU Yingjie4,5,6, Jian Q. FENG1,*(), WANG Qian1,*()   

  1. 1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, Dallas, Texas 75246, U.S.A.
    2. Kornberg School of Dentistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140, U.S.A.
    3. Institute of Laboratory Animals, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
    4. Shandong Laboratory Animal Center, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong First Medical
    5. University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong 250062, China
    6. Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease, Department of Medicine, Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York 10029, USA
  • Received:2020-07-30 Revised:2020-09-22 Online:2020-11-15 Published:2020-11-18
  • Contact: Jian Q. FENG,WANG Qian E-mail:jfeng@tamu.edu;qian.wang@tamu.edu

Abstract:

In recent years, treeshrews have gained interest among researchers in the study of human development and disease owed to their phylogenetic closeness to primates. In this comparative study among a mouse, dog, human, baboon, and treeshrews, bone microstructure and morphology were quantitatively analyzed to assess the closeness of treeshrews to humans. In the femurs of three adult male Belanger's treeshrews (Tupaia belangeri chinensis), the osteon structure of the cortical bone was studied using confocal imaging via Fluorescein Iso-Thio-Cyanate sample preparation and staining. Osteocyte lacunae morphology was visualized using acid-etched SEM. Overall, the density and structure of osteon-like formation as well as the morphology of osteocyte lacunae in Belanger's treeshrews bore greater resemblance to mice than humans. These findings indicate that although treeshrews are phylogenetically closer to humans than mice, their bone morphology and functionality are still close to those of mice. This scenario was the first time that osteons and osteocyte lacunae were visualized and characterized in addition to those in a dog and baboon, which enriches our understanding of bone development, adaptation, and evolution in early primates. Future quantitative comparative study is warranted to characterize the micromorphology of bone in treeshrews.

Key words: Bone tissue histology, Cortical bone, Non-human primate model

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