Fig. 12

Bone disuse leads to osteoclastogenesis: (a) Loss of fluid flow inside the LCS causes apoptosis of osteocytes; (b) Active osteocytes near the apoptotic osteocytes release RANKL; (c) RANKL binds to RANK present on osteoclast precursor cells, which leads to (d) Osteoclastogenesis and (e) Bone resorption. (Some parts of this illustration have been created using the Servier medical Art, SMART; https://smart.servier.com/).