Conformation change of collagen during the initial stage of biomineralization of calcium phosphate

Abstract

The present work was designed to examine the interaction of collagen/calcium phosphate during the initial mineralization process. Circular dichroism analysis was performed to investigate the conformation change of collagen during the initial process. An ultraviolet photometer was used for turbidity measurements in situ to study the kinetic process of mineralization. It was revealed for the first time that during the initial mineralization process the collagen conformation changed markedly while amorphous/crystalline conversion and crystal ripening occurred. The mechanism for the conformation change was discussed based on the experimental results. The conformation change of the organic matrix may be a widespread phenomenon in biomineralization systems in the living body.