Bones produce hormones that can influence cells far from the bone.

“So in biology we hear about autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine. Those different terms refer to over what distance a given chemical has an affect on a cell. For instance, a cell can have an affect on itself. It can have an affect on immediately neighboring cells or it can have an affect on both itself, immediately neighboring cells and cells far, far away in the body. And that last example of a given chemical or substance having and affect on the cell that produced it plus neighboring cells, plus cells far away is an endocrine effect.”