As the only cells capable of efficiently resorbing bone, osteoclasts are central mediators of both normal bone remodeling and pathologies associates with excessive bone resorption. However, despite the clear evidence of interplay between osteoclasts and the bone surface in vivo, the role of the bone substrate in regulating osteoclast differentiation and activation at a molecular level has not been fully defined. Here, we present the first comprehensive expression profiles of osteoclasts differentiated on authentic resorbable bone substrates. This analysis has identified numerous critical pathways coordinately regulated by osteoclastogenic cytokines and bone substrate, including the transition from proliferation to differentiation, and sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling. Whilst, as expected, much of this program is dependent upon integrin beta 3, the pre-eminent mediator of osteoclast-bone interaction, a surprisingly significant portion of the bone substrate regulated expression signature is independent of this receptor. Together, these findings identify an important hitherto underappreciated role for bone substrate in osteoclastogenesis.