Fig. 5

Morphological changes of apoptotic cells was detected via TEM (× 9900). Control group (images a): osteocyte was round or oval, large in size and rich in organelle, the chromatin was clear and uniform, and the nuclear membrane was intact. Model group showed typical apoptotic morphological features: the bone cell volume became smaller, the nucleus was pyknotic, the shape was irregular, the cell edge vacuolation, the nuclear chromatin was concentrated and marginalized (the red arrow), and the intracellular electron density was deepened, the heterochromatin was rich in the nucleus and distributed in large pieces (the black arrow). (images b). Scale bar = 2 um