We thank Drs. Plotkin and Bellido for their interest in our review article and their comments. This article was intended as part survey-type review and part conceptual synthesis. Our goal was to present some of the rapidly evolving knowledge about osteocytes with a specific emphasis on the physiological consequences of residing within the unique and physically constrained environment of the lacunar–canalicular space. We believe that it is a novel and hopefully useful context for understanding osteocytes and their integrative functions in situ. This focus, coupled with space constraints for the review itself, meant that not all aspects of osteocyte biology received extensive coverage.

We know very well the outstanding and important work contained in the papers cited in the letter to the editor, as well as other key primary papers and detailed reviews by these investigators on Connexin 43 and osteocyte apoptosis, disuse osteoporosis, and related areas. The omission was not intended to reflect negatively on those studies. We would also point out that we applied the same filter to our own work, citing only a selection of our own osteocyte papers.