Mineralization and non-ideality: on nature’s foundry

Abstract

Understanding how ions, ion-clusters and particles behave in non-ideal environments is a fundamental question concerning planetary to atomic scales. For biomineralization phenomena wherein diverse inorganic and organic ingredients are present in biological media, attributing biomaterial composition and structure to the chemistry of singular additives may not provide a holistic view of the underlying mechanisms. Therefore, in this review, we specifically address the consequences of physico-chemical non-ideality on mineral formation. Influences of different forms of non-ideality such as macromolecular crowding, confinement and liquid-like organic phases on mineral nucleation and crystallization in biological environments are presented. Novel prospects for the additive-controlled nucleation and crystallization are accessible from this biophysical view. In this manner, we show that non-ideal conditions significantly affect the form, structure and composition of biogenic and biomimetic minerals.

On Mineral Retrosynthesis of a Complex Biogenic Scaffold

“…For instance, crowded solutions of mineralization additives lead to significant deviations in mineral nucleation behavior [9,10]. On these lines, high PEG contents can suppress ion-association, inhibit nucleation and also modulate mineral polymorphism, affected by diffusion-limitation and charge screening effects [9,10]. Although lower additive contents are applied in the present study, the effects on nucleation and crystal growth are possibly augmented within confined and crowded regions of the egg shell scaffold.…”

“…underlay Mg 2+ -induced aragonite formation [51]. For instance, crowded solutions of mineralization additives lead to significant deviations in mineral nucleation behavior [9,10]. On these lines, high PEG contents can suppress ion-association, inhibit nucleation and also modulate mineral polymorphism, affected by diffusion-limitation and charge screening effects [9,10].…”

“…For instance, in nacre and bone material, the physicochemical properties of the scaffold tune interactions with mineral precursors and subsequently lead to hierarchically-organized composite biominerals [3,7,8]. Thus, the niche conditions of crowding and confinement presented by the scaffold offer a defined physicochemical environment towards mineralization reactions [9,10]. In biological environments, the activity of nucleation and crystallization additives modulate mineral growth.…”

“…The complementarity between the physicochemical nature of transient mineral precursors and mineral matrices has also been suggested [10]. Therefore, in this study, we seek to (i) revisit the distribution and physical nature of organic macromolecules constituting the egg shell scaffold using the tools of microscopy and (ii) explore the relation between distinct mineral precursors and the biomineral matrix by applying synthetic additives during the ex situ mineralization of decalcified egg membranes.…”

Foreword to ‘Quantitative and analytical relations in biochemistry’—a special issue in honour of Donald J. Winzor’s 80th birthday

“…In this special issue, Don's colleagues, scientific collaborators and former students have contributed an array of articles concerned with biosensor analysis (Karlsson 2016), analytical ultracentrifugation (Harding et al 2016), dynamic light scattering (Stetefeld et al 2016), turbidimetric analysis (Zhao et al 2016), protein-ribonucleic acid interaction (Jones 2016), computer modelling of amyloid formation (Schor et al 2016), protein denaturation (Chebotareva et al 2016), statistical mechanics (Wills 2016), structural phage biology (Arisaka et al 2016), neutron scattering (Scott 2016), nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of mass transfer (Shishmarev and Kuchel 2016), electrophoresis (Laue et al 2016), thermodynamic nonideality (Rao et al 2016) and protein-DNA interactions (Munro et al 2016). Prefatory comments have also been added by two long-time research collaborators and fellow passengers through time, Professor Emeritus William H. Sawyer (Sawyer 2016) and Dr. Allen P. Minton (Minton 2016).…”