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Title: Energetic basis for the molecular-scale organization of bone

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [2];  [1]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  2. Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile, AL (United States)
  3. Zhejiang Univ., Hangzhou (China)
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, San Francisco, CA (United States)

Here, the remarkable properties of bone derive from a highly organized arrangement of co-aligned nm-scale apatite platelets within a fibrillar collagen matrix. The origin of this arrangement is poorly understood and the crystal structures of hydroxyapatite (HAP) and the non-mineralized collagen fibrils alone do not provide an explanation. Moreover, little is known about collagen-apatite interaction energies, which should strongly influence both the molecular-scale organization and the resulting mechanical properties of the composite. We investigated collagen-mineral interactions by combining dynamic force spectroscopy (DFS) measurements of binding energies with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of binding and AFM observations of collagen adsorption on single crystals of calcium phosphate for four mineral phases of potential importance in bone formation. In all cases, we observe a strong preferential orientation of collagen binding, but comparison between the observed orientations and TEM analyses native tissues shows only calcium-deficient apatite (CDAP) provides an interface with collagen that is consistent with both. MD simulations predict preferred collagen orientations that agree with observations and results from both MD and DFS reveal large values for the binding energy due to multiple binding sites. These findings reconcile apparent contradictions inherent in a hydroxyapatite or carbonated apatite (CAP) model of bone mineral and provide an energetic rationale for the molecular scale organization of bone.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1415099
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-110978; 600305000
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 112, Issue 2; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 53 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (10)

Developing a molecular picture of soil organic matter–mineral interactions by quantifying organo–mineral binding journal August 2017
Transformation of amorphous calcium phosphate to bone-like apatite journal October 2018
Hierarchically oriented organization in supramolecular peptide crystals journal September 2019
Controlling protein assembly on inorganic crystals through designed protein interfaces journal July 2019
Synthesis and structure of iron- and strontium-substituted octacalcium phosphate: effects of ionic charge and radius journal January 2016
Atomic force microscopy imaging of classical and nonclassical surface growth dynamics of calcium orthophosphates journal January 2018
Polymers and biopolymers at interfaces journal January 2018
PyRosetta: a script-based interface for implementing molecular modeling algorithms using Rosetta journal January 2010
Large Deformation Mechanisms, Plasticity, and Failure of an Individual Collagen Fibril With Different Mineral Content: LARGE DEFORMATION MECHANISMS, PLASTICITY, AND FAILURE OF COLLAGEN FIBRIL journal February 2016
Author Correction: Developing a molecular picture of soil organic matter–mineral interactions by quantifying organo–mineral binding journal December 2017