Intermolecular channels direct crystal orientation in mineralized collagen

YiFei Xu, Fabio Nudelman, E. Deniz Eren, Maarten J. M. Wirix, Bram Cantaert, Wouter H. Nijhuis, Daniel Hermida-Merino, Giuseppe Portale, Paul H. H. Bomans, Christian Ottmann, Heiner Friedrich, Wim Bras, Anat Akiva, Joseph P. R. O. Orgel (), Fiona C. Meldrum () and Nico Sommerdijk ()
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YiFei Xu: Eindhoven University of Technology
Fabio Nudelman: Eindhoven University of Technology
E. Deniz Eren: Eindhoven University of Technology
Maarten J. M. Wirix: Eindhoven University of Technology
Bram Cantaert: University of Leeds
Wouter H. Nijhuis: Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital
Daniel Hermida-Merino: DUBBLE@ESRF
Giuseppe Portale: DUBBLE@ESRF
Paul H. H. Bomans: Eindhoven University of Technology
Christian Ottmann: Eindhoven University of Technology
Heiner Friedrich: Eindhoven University of Technology
Wim Bras: DUBBLE@ESRF
Anat Akiva: Eindhoven University of Technology
Joseph P. R. O. Orgel: Illinois Institute of Technology
Fiona C. Meldrum: University of Leeds
Nico Sommerdijk: Eindhoven University of Technology

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract 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, CaCO3 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.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18846-2

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