Osteoclasts are associated with which of the following?
- (a)Bone formation
- (b)Basal lamina secretion
- (c)Bone fracture
- (d)Muscle regeneration
Correct — A or C (both accepted). Osteoclasts are large, multinucleated bone cells whose well-established role is bone resorption — they secrete acid and enzymes that dissolve old or damaged bone tissue. This resorption is one half of the continuous bone remodeling cycle, and it is also the process that clears damaged bone during the repair phase after a bone fracture — which is why option (c), 'Bone fracture', is directly associated with osteoclast activity. Option (a), 'Bone formation', is, strictly, the job of a different cell — the osteoblast, not the osteoclast — but formation and resorption are the two paired halves of the same remodeling cycle in which osteoclasts participate, and the commission granted grace, accepting both answers.
- (b)Basal lamina secretion — The basal lamina (basement membrane) is secreted by epithelial cells, not by osteoclasts — unrelated to bone remodeling.
- (d)Muscle regeneration — Muscle regeneration is driven by satellite cells (myogenic stem cells) in skeletal muscle, not by osteoclasts, which act on bone.
Bone tissue is continuously remodeled by two opposing cell types: osteoclasts, large multinucleated cells (derived from the monocyte/macrophage lineage) that resorb — break down — old or damaged bone by secreting acid and lysosomal enzymes; and osteoblasts, which build new bone by secreting osteoid that later mineralizes. Osteoclast-driven resorption is also essential during fracture repair, when damaged bone at the fracture site must be cleared away as part of the remodeling stage of healing.
The exam trap is conflating osteoclast (breaks bone down) with osteoblast (builds bone up) — the two names sound similar but describe opposite functions. This question's grace (accepting both 'bone formation' and 'bone fracture') reflects that ambiguity, though the cell's core, textbook-established function is resorption, which links it most directly to fracture-repair remodeling.
- Osteoclasts are large, multinucleated cells derived from the monocyte/macrophage lineage
- Their core function is bone resorption — breaking down old or damaged bone tissue
- Osteoblasts, a different cell type, are responsible for new bone formation
- Osteoclast-driven resorption is active during the remodeling phase of bone fracture repair
Osteoclasts resorb bone, including during fracture repair — the commission accepted both 'Bone formation' and 'Bone fracture' for this question.
- Confusing osteoclast (breaks down bone) with osteoblast (builds bone) — a classic mix-up
- Assuming 'associated with' points to only one function when the exam may credit a related process
MPPSC/UPSC test cell-function matching among osteoclast, osteoblast and osteocyte — expect a direct 'which cell does X' question or its reverse.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following cells is primarily responsible for the formation of new bone tissue?
- (a)Osteoclasts
- (b)Osteoblasts
- (c)Osteocytes
- (d)Chondrocytes
Answer(b) Osteoblasts — cells that synthesize the osteoid matrix which later mineralizes into new bone.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The process by which osteoclasts break down bone tissue is known as:
- (a)Ossification
- (b)Bone resorption
- (c)Chondrification
- (d)Bone deposition
Answer(b) Bone resorption — osteoclasts dissolve bone mineral and matrix, releasing calcium.