Issue 11, 2010

Mesoscale crystallization of calcium phosphatenanostructures in protein (casein) micelles

Abstract

Aqueous micelles of the multi-protein calcium phosphate complex, casein, were treated at 60 °C and pH 7 over several months. Although partial dissociation of the micelles into 12 nm sized amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP)/protein nanoparticles occurred within a period of 14 days, crystallization of the ACP nanoclusters into bundles of hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanofilaments was not observed until after 12 weeks. The HAP nanofilaments were formed specifically within the partially disrupted protein micelles suggesting a micelle-mediated pathway of mesoscale crystallization. Similar experiments using ACP-containing synthetic micelles prepared from β-casein protein alone indicated that co-aligned bundles of HAP nanofilaments were produced within the protein micelle interior after 24 hours at temperatures as low as 35 °C. The presence of Mg2+ ions in the casein micelles, as well as a possible synergistic effect associated with the multi-protein nature of the native aggregates, could account for the marked inhibition in mesoscale crystallization observed in the casein micelles compared with the single-component β-casein constructs.

Graphical abstract: Mesoscale crystallization of calcium phosphate nanostructures in protein (casein) micelles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Mar 2010
Accepted
13 Apr 2010
First published
21 May 2010

Nanoscale, 2010,2, 2400-2405

Mesoscale crystallization of calcium phosphate nanostructures in protein (casein) micelles

S. Thachepan, M. Li and S. Mann, Nanoscale, 2010, 2, 2400 DOI: 10.1039/C0NR00158A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements