Raman spectroscopy reveals differences in collagen secondary structure which relate to the levels of mineralisation in bones that have evolved for different functions

Bone is a composite material comprising a collagen fibril scaffold surrounded by crystals of carbonated‐hydroxyapatite mineral. It is well established that the relative proportions of mineral and collagen in mature bone are not definite and are adapted in order to ‘tune’ its mechanical properties. It is not known, however, how the mineral to collagen ratio is controlled. This paper uses Raman spectroscopy (which permits the probing of both the mineral and the collagen phases of bone) to explore the hypothesis that the control mechanism is related to the nature of the collagen and that bones with different levels of mineralisation have qualitatively different collagen. Raman spectra of functionally adapted bones with varying levels of mineralisation are presented and features that indicate the differences in the collagen's secondary structure (amide I band profiles) and post‐translational modification (hydroxyproline/proline ratios) are highlighted. The study demonstrates that Raman spectroscopy can provide a means to investigate the mechanisms that control the mineral to collagen ratio of bone. Understanding these mechanisms could pave the way towards the therapeutic alteration of the mineral to collagen ratio and, thus, the control of the mechanical properties of bone. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fumarate Copolymer–Chitosan Cross‐Linked Scaffold Directed to Osteochondrogenic Tissue Engineering

Natural and synthetic cross‐linked polymers allow the improvement of cytocompatibility and mechanical properties of the individual polymers. In osteochondral lesions of big size it will be required the use of scaffolds to repair the lesion. In this work a borax cross‐linked scaffold based on fumarate‐vinyl acetate copolymer and chitosan directed to osteochondrondral tissue engineering is developed. The cross‐linked scaffolds and physical blends of the polymers are analyzed in based on their morphology, glass transition temperature, and mechanical properties. In addition, the stability, degradation behavior, and the swelling kinetics are studied. The results demonstrate that the borax cross‐linked scaffold exhibits hydrogel behavior with appropriated mechanical properties for bone and cartilage tissue regeneration. Bone marrow progenitor cells and primary chondrocytes are used to demonstrate its osteo‐ and chondrogenic properties, respectively, assessing the osteo‐ and chondroblastic growth and maturation, without evident signs of cytotoxicity as it is evaluated in an in vitro system.

     

The N- and C-terminal domains of parathyroid hormone-related protein affect differently the osteogenic and adipogenic potential of human mesenchymal stem cells

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is synthesized by diverse tissues, and its processing produces several fragments, each with apparently distinct autocrine and paracrine bioactivities. In bone, PTHrP appears to modulate bone formation in part through promoting osteoblast differentiation. The putative effect of PTH-like and PTH-unrelated fragments of PTHrP on human mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) is not well known. Human MSCs were treated with PTHrP (1-36) or PTHrP (107-139) or both (each at 10 nM) in osteogenic or adipogenic medium, from the start or after 6 days of exposure to the corresponding medium, and the expression of several osteoblastogenic and adipogenic markers was analyzed. PTHrP (1-36) inhibited adipogenesis in MSCs and favoured the expression of osteogenic early markers. The opposite was observed with treatment of MSCs with PTHrP (107-139). Moreover, inhibition of the adipogenic differentiation by PTHrP (1-36) prevailed in the presence of PTHrP (107-139). The PTH/PTHrP type 1 receptor (PTH1R) gene expression was maximum in the earlier and later stages of osteogenesis and adipogenesis, respectively. While PTHrP (107-139) did not modify the PTH1R overexpression during adipogenesis, PTHrP (1-36) did inhibit it; an effect which was partially affected by PTHrP (7-34), a PTH1R antagonist, at 1 µM. These findings demonstrate that both PTHrP domains can exert varying effects on human MSCs differentiation. PTHrP (107-139) showed a tendency to favor adipogenesis, while PTHrP (1-36) induced a mild osteogenic effect in these cells, and inhibited their adipocytic commitment. This further supports the potential anabolic action of the latter peptide in humans.     

Decomposition of in vivo spatially offset Raman spectroscopy data using multivariate analysis techniques

The decomposition of spatially offset Raman spectra for complex multilayer systems, such as biological tissues, requires advanced techniques such as multivariate analyses. Often, in such situations, the decomposition methods can reach their limits of accuracy well before the limits imposed by signal‐to‐noise ratios. Consequently, more effective reconstruction methods could yield more accurate results with the same data set. In this study we process spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) data with three different multivariate techniques (band‐target entropy minimization (BTEM), multivariate curve resolution and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC)) and compare their performance when analysing a spectrally challenging plastic model system and an even more challenging problem, the analysis of human bone transcutaneously in vivo. For the in vivo measurements, PARAFAC's requirement of multidimensional orthogonal data is addressed by recording SORS spectra both at different spatial offsets and at different anatomical points, the latter providing added dimensionality through the variation of skin/soft tissue thickness. The BTEM and PARAFAC methods performed the best on the plastic system with the BTEM more faithfully reconstructing the major Raman bands and PARAFAC the smaller more heavily overlapped features. All three methods succeeded in reconstructing the bone spectrum from the transcutaneous data and gave good figures for the phosphate‐to‐carbonate ratio (within 2% of excised human tibia bone); the PARAFAC gave the most accurate figure for the mineral‐to‐collagen ratio (20% less than excised human tibia bone). Previous studies of excised bones have shown that certain bone diseases (such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and osteogenesis imperfecta) are accompanied by compositional abnormalities that can be detected with Raman spectroscopy, the utility of a technique which could reconstruct bone spectra accurately is manifest. The results have relevance on the use of SORS in general. © 2014 Crown copyright. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

松质骨拉伸细观分析的实验研究

设计了扫描电镜内专用的加载装置,研究了松质骨受拉时胞体结构的细观力学行为,获得了不同加载条件下的松质骨SEM照片和断口SEM照片,为分析松质骨变形机理和破坏机理提供实验基础,也为同类研究提供有益参考。     

发钙与骨密度两种测试方法的观察比较

探讨了发钙检测的可靠性。对同一个患者同时做两种检测,发钙用ICPQ－1012型电感耦合高频等离子体发射光谱仪检测,骨密度则采有中国科学技术大学中佳光电仪器分公司生产的GBD－928骨密度测试检测,均由专人进行操作。结果表明,151例患者的发钙与骨密度测试结果相符的有74例,占49％。可见评价一个人的钙营养状况不能只看发钙,特别对发钙高的患者,应结合临床,最好再做骨密度或甲状旁腺素等的检测,以便准确地判断体内钙营养状况。     

Molecular Control of Bioactivity in Sol-Gel Glasses

Bioactive materials can be divided into: Class A bioactive glasses which exhibit rapid bonding to bone and soft connective tissue and are osteoproductive, and osteoconductive; and Class B bioactive ceramics, which bond slowly only to bone and are only osteoconductive. Bioactive sol-gel glasses composed of SiO2-CaO-P2O5 have Class A behavior in vitro and in vivo and also resorb as they enhance the proliferation of new trabecular bone.     

Viscoelasticity,mechanical properties,and in vivo biocompatibility of injectable polyvinyl alcohol/bioactive glass composite hydrogels as potential bone tissue scaffolds

Abstract

An injectable composite hydrogel composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and bioactive glass (BG) particles were synthesized by a physical crosslinking approach. The morphology, mechanical properties, and viscoelasticity of the PVA/BG composite hydrogel were characterized. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) showed uniform and homogeneous distribution of BG particles throughout the composite hydrogel. The incorporation of 2.5?wt% of BG particles in the composite hydrogel formulations, enhanced the static compressive strength and static elastic modulus by 325% and 150%, respectively. The storage molds (G′) was greater than the loss modules (G′′) at all the frequency range studied, which revealed a self-standing elastic composite hydrogel with a smooth injectability. The PVA/BG composite hydrogel was also implanted subcutaneously in the dorsal region of adult male rats. After 4?weeks of implantation, no inflammatory cells were seen within and around the implant, which indicated that the composite hydrogel was biocompatible. The properties of the synthesized injectable PVA/BG composite hydrogel demonstrate its capability toward bone regeneration.     

运动对去卵巢大鼠骨元素代谢的影响

用测定骨元素含量的方法，分析了运动对正常大鼠和切除双侧卵巢后的大鼠骨元素代谢的影响。将健康4个月龄雌性SD大鼠44只随机分成5组：（1）非去势非运动组；（2）非去势＋运动组；（3）假去势非运动组；（4）去势非运动组；（5）去势＋运动组。运动组用大鼠专用跑台中等运动强度训练，持续10周。结果表明，去卵巢大鼠骨Ca,Mg,S,Mn,Zn等含量显著降低，P含量显著增加。运动训练可使去卵巢大鼠降低的骨Ca,Mg,S,Mn,Zn等含量显著回升，骨P含量显著回降。提示中等强度运动训练可对抗由于去卵巢所引起的骨元素代谢紊乱。