Intermolecular channels direct crystal orientation in mineralized collagen

The mineralized collagen fibril is the basic building block of bone, and is commonly pictured as a parallel array of ultrathin carbonated hydroxyapatite (HAp) platelets distributed throughout the collagen. This orientation is often attributed to an epitaxial relationship between the HAp and collagen...

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Published in:Nature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 5068 - 1-5068-12
Main Authors: Xu, YiFei, Nudelman, Fabio, Eren, E. Deniz, Wirix, Maarten J. M., Cantaert, Bram, Nijhuis, Wouter H., Hermida-Merino, Daniel, Portale, Giuseppe, Bomans, Paul H. H., Ottmann, Christian, Friedrich, Heiner, Bras, Wim, Akiva, Anat, Orgel, Joseph P. R. O., Meldrum, Fiona C., Sommerdijk, Nico
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08.10.2020
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects:
147/135
147/143
639/301/54
639/301/54/991
639/301/54/994
BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Biomaterials
biomineralization
Humanities and Social Sciences
INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
multidisciplinary
Physics
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
tissues
TOMOGRAPHY
ORGANIZATION
MATRIX INTERACTION
BIOMINERALIZATION
MECHANISMS
I COLLAGEN
DRIVEN
NUCLEATION
BONE
APATITE
ISSN:2041-1723, 2041-1723
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Summary:The mineralized collagen fibril is the basic building block of bone, and is commonly pictured as a parallel array of ultrathin carbonated hydroxyapatite (HAp) platelets distributed throughout the collagen. This orientation is often attributed to an epitaxial relationship between the HAp and collagen molecules inside 2D voids within the fibril. Although recent studies have questioned this model, the structural relationship between the collagen matrix and HAp, and the mechanisms by which collagen directs mineralization remain unclear. Here, we use XRD to reveal that the voids in the collagen are in fact cylindrical pores with diameters of ~2 nm, while electron microscopy shows that the HAp crystals in bone are only uniaxially oriented with respect to the collagen. From in vitro mineralization studies with HAp, CaCO 3 and γ-FeOOH we conclude that confinement within these pores, together with the anisotropic growth of HAp, dictates the orientation of HAp crystals within the collagen fibril. Mineralized collagen is the building block of bone but how the collagen directs hydroxyapatite formation remains unclear. Here, the authors demonstrate cylindrical pores in collagen and how the anisotropic growth of hydroxyapatite directs the orientation of crystal growth in mineralized collagen.
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USDOE
European Research Council (ERC)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Marie Curie Individual Fellowship
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
AC05-00OR22725; EP/N002423/1; EP/R018820/1; 9 P41 GM103622
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-18846-2