New images of bone formation provide insight into how to speed up the bone healing process and repair fractures faster and treat cavities better.
- Researchers have managed to identify the precise molecular pathways that form bones and teeth.
- These discoveries make it possible to reproduce or accelerate the process of biomineralization for bone healing or regeneration.
New technologies make it possible to capture new images in real time of the formation of bones and teeth. A better knowledge of the process which makes it possible to envisage an acceleration of the process of bone healing. In work published November 18 in the journal Science AdvancesAmerican researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have deciphered with unparalleled precision the process by which minerals combine at the molecular level to form bones and other hard tissues.
Treat mineralization deficiencies
The researchers captured real-time, high-resolution images of the mineralization process and succeeded in identifying the precise molecular pathways that form bones and teeth. Until then, knowledge of bone formation was incomplete, especially at the early stage of organization into structure of molecular pathways. “To treat bone alterations or overcome pathological calcification deficiencies, it is necessary to understand these mineralization pathways”, continues Dr. Rez Shahbazian-Yasser, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois and author of the study.
The study identified in vitro the mineralization and crystallization pathways of hydroxyapatite (HA), a mineral from the phosphate family, which forms the basis of our bone tissues. Using transmission electron microscopy in a solution of artificial saliva, they realized that the direct and indirect formation of hydroxyapatite crystals can be achieved by regulating the dissolution of calcium phosphate. A discovery that is a big step towards better treatment of bone fractures but also of diseases characterized by mineralization deficiencies, such as osteoporosis.
Accelerate bone repair
“Using our technology, we were able to decipher these pathways and better understand how hydroxyapatite particles nucleate and grow on calcium phosphate models.detailed the Dr. Rez Shahbazian-Yasser. Understanding this crystallization process will allow us to develop new drugs to accelerate bone repair in fractures or to treat dental caries..”
These discoveries make it possible to reproduce or accelerate the process of biomineralization for bone healing or regeneration. “Our study provides clear new data on how minerals organize and transform in bone tissue, and this finding has many implications for the healing of bones or teeth.”, concludes the researcher.
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