Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T06:41:11.236Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A model for the composite nanostructure of bone suggested by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

B. A. Cressey  and
G. Cressey
B. A. Cressey
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
G. Cressey*
Affiliation:
Department of Mineralogy, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
*
* E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We have imaged the spatially-preserved microtexture of biogenic apatite, retained together with its collagen template, in non-demineralized human bone using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Using ion-beam thinning, a specimen preparation method generally employed for inorganic minerals rather than for biological materials, we have imaged a composite nanostructure of bone not previously reported, and we propose a model for this nano-architecture that involves a boxconstruction of apatite plates and apatite sheets. This observation provides a new understanding of bone strength at the nanometre scale and suggests how post mortem enhancement of this texture by recrystallization probably accounts for the durability of ancient bone. Modern sheep bone (a close analogue for recently dead human bone) imaged in the same way also shows evidence of this composite architecture.

Keywords

boneapatitetransmission electron microscopy
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 67 , Issue 6 , December 2003 , pp. 1171 - 1182
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barber, DJ. (1981) Demountable polished extra-thin sections and their use in transmission electron microscopy. Mineralogical Magazine, 44, 357—379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyde, A. (1974) Transmission electron microscopy of ion beam thinned dentine. Cell and Tissue Research, 152, 543—550.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chipera, S.J. and Bish, D.L. (1991) Applications of X-ray diffraction crystallite size/strain analysis to Seismosaurus dinosaur bone.. Advances in X-ray Analysis, 34, 473—482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, S.A., Cartwright, A.G. and Lewis, D. (1978) The morphology of bone mineral crystals. Calcified Tissue Research, 25, 217—222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landis, W.J. (1995) The strength of a calcified tissue depends in part on the molecular structure and organisation of its constituent mineral crystals in their organic matrix. Bone, 16, 533—544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landis, W.J., Song, M.J., Leith, A., McEwen, L. and McEwen, B.F. (1993) Mineral and organic matrix interaction in normally calcifying tendon visualized in three dimensions by high-voltage electron microscopic tomography and graphic image recon-struction. Journal of Structural Biology, 110, 39—54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landis, W.J., Hodgens, K.J., Arena, J., Song, MJ. and McEwen, B.F. (1996a Structural relations between collagen and mineral in bone as determined by high voltage electron microscopic tomography. Microscopy Research and Technique, 33, 192—202.3.0.CO;2-V>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landis, W.J., Hodgens, K.J., Song, M.J., Arena, J., Kiyonaga, S., Marko, M., Owen, C. and McEwen, B.F. (1996b Mineralization of collagen may occur on fibril surfaces: evidence from conventional and high-voltage electron microscopy and three-dimen-sional imaging. Journal of Structural Biology, 117, 24—35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shibahara, H., Tohda, H. and Yanagizawa, T. (1994) High resolution electron microscopic observation of hydroxyapatite in tooth crystals. Journal of Electron Microscopy, 43, 89—94.Google ScholarPubMed
Tuross, N., Behrensmeyer, A.K. and Eanes, E.D. (1989) Strontium increases and crystaflinity changes in taphonomic and archaeological bone. Journal of Archaeological Science, 16, 661—672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiner, S. and Traub, W. (1986) Organisation of hydroxyapatite crystals within collagen fibrils. FEBS Letters, 206, 262—266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiner, S. and Traub, W. (1992) Bone structure: from angstroms to microns. The FASEB Journal, 6, 879—885.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiner, S., Arad, T. and Traub, W. (1991) Crystal organization in rat bone lamellae. FEBS Letters, 285, 49—54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ziv, V., Sabanay, I., Arad, T., Traub, W. and Weiner, S. (1996a Transitional structures in lamellar bone. Microscopy Research and Technique, 33, 203—213.3.0.CO;2-Y>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziv, V., Wagner, H.D. and Weiner, S. (1996b Microstructure-microhardness relations in parallel-fibered and lamellar bone. Bone, 18, 417—428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar