Sl. Vasin et al., THE ROLE OF PROTEINS IN THE NUCLEATION AND FORMATION OF CALCIUM-CONTAINING DEPOSITS ON BIOMATERIAL SURFACES, Journal of biomedical materials research, 39(3), 1998, pp. 491-497
In experiments in vivo using diffusion chambers, the morphology and co
mposition of calcium-containing deposits on natural and artificial bio
materials that had no direct contact with cells were studied using sca
nning electron microscopy with energy dispersion X-ray microanalysis.
It was revealed that the formation of a protein layer containing prote
in-calcium complexes is the key event in biomaterial calcification. A
mechanism of formation of a calcium-containing protein matrix that cre
ates the conditions for supersaturation of the crystal-forming medium
over critical value has been proposed. The formation of nuclei of inso
luble calcium phosphate starts predominantly deep in an adsorbed prote
in layer enriched by calcium ions. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.