Dr. Matthew Mason: Further Information...
University Physiologist Tel: +44 (0)1223 333829, Fax: +44 (0)1223 333840, E-mail: mjm68@cam.ac.uk
Neary, M.T., Reid, D.G., Mason, M.J., Friščić, T., Duer, M.J. & Cusack, M. (2011) Contrasts between organic participation in apatite biomineralization in brachiopod shell and vertebrate bone identified by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 8: 282-288.
In this study, centred at the University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry, we used solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) imaging to investigate the chemical structure of the shells of the linguliform brachiopods Lingula anatina and Discinisca tenuis. These ancient creatures, which resemble bivalve molluscs, are interesting in that their shells are made of calcium phosphate rather than calcium carbonate, which would be the more usual mineral constituent of invertebrate shells. We found that the mineral component of the brachiopod shells was more crystalline in structure than the apatite in mammalian bone, and that it does not appear to be associated with organic components such as glycosaminoglycans (GAGs).
The contrast that we observed between vertebrate bone, with powerful GAG-mineral interactions and crystallographically poorly ordered mineral, and the brachiopod shells, with undetectable GAG-mineral interactions at the organic scale and crystallographically well ordered mineral, suggests that GAGs may have a central role in directing bone mineralization in vertebrates.
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