Osteoclasts are associated with which of the following?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

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.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) The basal lamina (basement membrane) is secreted by epithelial cells, not by osteoclasts — unrelated to bone remodeling.  (d) Muscle regeneration is driven by satellite cells (myogenic stem cells) in skeletal muscle, not by osteoclasts, which act on bone.

Concept: 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.

State PCS 2023 Q9 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q9 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer