Collagen intrafibrillar mineralization as a result of the balance between osmotic equilibrium and electroneutrality.

ABSTRACT: Mineralization of fibrillar collagen with biomimetic process-directing agents has enabled scientists to gain insight into the potential mechanisms involved in intrafibrillar mineralization. Here, by using polycation- and polyanion-directed intrafibrillar mineralization, we challenge the popular paradigm that electrostatic attraction is solely responsible for polyelectrolyte-directed intrafibrillar mineralization. As there is no difference when a polycationic or a polyanionic electrolyte is used to direct collagen mineralization, we argue that additional types of long-range non-electrostatic interaction are responsible for intrafibrillar mineralization. Molecular dynamics simulations of collagen structures in the presence of extrafibrillar polyelectrolytes show that the outward movement of

SUBMITTER: Niu LN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5321866 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature