Revealing nanoscale mineralization pathways of hydroxyapatite using in situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy.

ABSTRACT: To treat impairments in hard tissues or overcome pathological calcification in soft tissues, a detailed understanding of mineralization pathways of calcium phosphate materials is needed. Here, we report a detailed mechanistic study of hydroxyapatite (HA) mineralization pathways in an artificial saliva solution via in situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is found that the mineralization of HA starts by forming ion-rich and ion-poor solutions in the saliva solution, followed by coexistence of the classical and nonclassical nucleation processes. For the nonclassical path, amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) functions as the substrate for HA nucleation on the ACP surface, while the classical path features direct HA nucleation from the solution. The growth of HA crystals on

SUBMITTER: He K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7673812 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature