MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF MINERALIZED TISSUES WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO BONE
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF MINERALIZED TISSUES WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO BONE
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DOI:
10.1103/revmodphys.31.359
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发表时间:
1959-01-01
影响因子:
44.1
通讯作者:
GLIMCHER, MJ
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
GLIMCHER, MJ
HERE are several reasons for presenting the topic of biological mineralization. In the first place, the organization of these tissues, from the macromolecular level to the level of the macroscopic tissue elements, offers superb examples both of structural order in bio-logical systems and of the relation between tissue architecture and tissue function. Secondly, the process of mineralization illustrates the way in which the physio-logical function of a tissue or organ may be interpreted on the basis of the molecular structure and macro-molecular organization of its components, and in terms of fairly well-characterized physicochemical phenomena. Thirdly, many of the unsolved phenomena in mineral-ization provide challenging problems, particularly for those with training in the physical sciences. Certain tissues of the organism must perform a variety of mechanical functions, such as the maintenance of the form and shape of the organism against the forces of gravity, and the protection of certain delicate organs (or the organisms themselves) by en-closing them in rigid vaults. As sitesof attachments for muscles andby virtue of articulations, they also provide the organism with a system ofmovable but structurally rigid levers. Thus, certain organisms have not only definite form and shape, but also flexibility and a means for locomotion and prehension. Nature has devised a number of diferent ways of diR'erentiating these specialized tissues. In the case of certain insects, the polymeric chitinous-protein procuticle becomes highly crosslinked providing the structural properties required for the exoskeleton. In the case of certain Elasmobranchii, such as the shark, a fibrous, gel-like structure, cartilage, provides both resiliency and structural rigidity. A third method, the subject of this paper, is the deposition of a substantial amount of inorganic crystals within an organic matrix: tissue mineralization. This process is widespread in biology