Mineralized Collagen Fibrils: An Essential Component in Determining the Mechanical Behavior of Cortical Bone.

Bone comprises mechanically different materials in a specific hierarchical structure. Mineralized collagen fibrils (MCFs), represented by tropocollagen molecules and hydroxyapatite nanocrystals, are the fundamental unit of bone. The mechanical characterization of MCFs provides the unique adaptive mechanical competence to bone to withstand mechanical load.

Aging exacerbates the morphological and mechanical response of mineralized collagen fibrils in murine cortical bone to disuse.

Mineralized collagen fibrils (MCFs) are the fundamental building blocks of bone tissue and contribute significantly to the mechanical behavior of bone. However, it is still largely unknown how the collagen network in bone responds to aging and the disuse normally accompanying it. Utilizing atomic force microscopy, nanoindentation and Raman spectroscopy, age-related alterations in the microstructure and mechanical properties of murine cortical tibia at multiple scales were investigated in this study.

Ferroptosis, a novel pharmacological mechanism of anti-cancer drugs.

Ferroptosis, a form of regulated cell death, is initiated by oxidative perturbations of the intracellular microenvironment, which is under the constitutive control of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). Ferrous iron (Fe) accumulation and lipid peroxidation are critical events in the induction of ferroptosis, which is inhibited by iron chelators and lipophilic antioxidants. Ferroptosis terminates in mitochondrial dysfunction and toxic lipid peroxidation.

Disuse Impairs the Mechanical Competence of Bone by Regulating the Characterizations of Mineralized Collagen Fibrils in Cortical Bone.

Bones are made of complex material comprising organic components and mineral hydroxyapatite, both of which formulate the unique hierarchical structure of bone and its mechanical properties. Bones are capable of optimizing their structure and mechanical properties according to the mechanical environment. Mineral loss is a well-known consequence of skeleton disuse.