Crystallinity and compositional changes in carbonated apatites: Evidence from P solid-state NMR, Raman, and AFM analysis.

Solid-state (magic-angle spinning) NMR spectroscopy is a useful tool for obtaining structural information on bone organic and mineral components and synthetic model minerals at the atomic-level. Raman and P NMR spectral parameters were investigated in a series of synthetic B-type carbonated apatites (CAps). Inverse P NMR linewidth and inverse Raman PO ν bandwidth were both correlated with powder XRD crystallinity over the 0.

Tracking circadian rhythms of bone mineral deposition in murine calvarial organ cultures.

Osteoblasts, which orchestrate the deposition of small apatite crystals through the expression of nucleating proteins, have been shown to also express clock genes associated with the circadian signaling pathway. We hypothesized that protein-mediated bone mineralization may be linked to circadian oscillator mechanisms functioning in peripheral bone tissue. In this study, Per1 expression in ex vivo neonatal murine calvaria organ cultures was monitored for 6 days using a Per1-luciferase transgene as a bioluminescent indicator of clock function.

Repeated freeze-thawing of bone tissue affects Raman bone quality measurements.

The ability to probe fresh tissue is a key feature to biomedical Raman spectroscopy. However, it is unclear how Raman spectra of calcified tissues are affected by freezing. In this study, six transverse sections of femoral cortical bone were subjected to multiple freeze∕thaw cycles and probed using a custom Raman microscope.