On the Collagen Mineralization. A Review.

Collagen mineralization (CM) is a challenging process that has received a lot of attention in the past years. Among the reasons for this interest, the key role is the importance of collagen and hydroxyapatite in natural bone, as major constituents. Different protocols of mineralization have been developed, specially using simulated body fluid (SBF) and many methods have been used to characterize the systems obtained, starting with methods of determining the mineral content (XRD, FTIR, Raman, High-Resolution Spectral Ultrasound Imaging), continuing with imaging methods (AFM, TEM, SEM, Fluorescence Microscopy), thermal analysis (DSC and TGA), evaluation of the mechanical and biological properties, including statistical methods and molecular modeling.

Selective effect of procaine, tetracaine and dibucaine on gold nanoparticles.

An aqueous colloid dispersion of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was prepared by reduction of gold(III) chloride and its interaction with three local anesthetics (procaine, dibucaine or tetracaine) was investigated. Optical spectra reveal the modifications in the absorption band of nanoparticles related to their self assembly mediated by anesthetic molecules and depending on the progress in time of the aggregation process. TEM images show the features of the self assemblies formed by the association of gold nanoparticles in presence of anesthetics, and reveal marked differences in the behavior of the AuNPs against the three anesthetics.