Collagen in bone

Grupe, G. in press Preservation of collagen in bone from dry sandy soil. Journal of Archaeological Science. 

There are a number of reasons why isotope archaeologists interested in diet and mobility have turned their attention to systems other than carbon and nitrogen in bone collagen. One is that collagen in bone does not survive indefinitely - it is susceptible to hydrolytic degradation, and is unlikely to survive in most... 

Araya, S-, Saito, S., Nakanishi, A., Kawanishi, Y. Physiology, Soluble collagen in Bone. Nature 192, 758 (1961)... 

Giraud-Guille, M. M., Besseau, L., and Martin, R. (2003). Liquid crystalline assemblies of collagen in bone and in vitro systems./. Biomech. 36, 1571-1579. 

Phosphates are found in soft organic tissues as phosphate esters, and in hard tissues, notably bones and teeth, as solid calcium orthophosphates see Biomineralization). Hard tissues are composites of Apatite and an organic matrix collagen in bone, dentin, and dental cement, and keratin in dental enamel. The Apatite phases are defective with Ca/P ratios of 1.6-1.8 and can incorporate other cations (Na+, K+, Mg +) or anions (F , d , COs ", citrate). 

Most of the paleodiet work using carbon isotopes has focused on the organic collagen in bone. Carbon also is found in the mineral, or carbonate, portion of bone and tooth enamel and contains information on diet. Although there are potential problems with contamination, this information can provide additional insight on questions regarding diet and place of origin of the individual from whom the sample was taken. 

Thus muscle, collagen (in bone), keratin (in hair, nails and beaks) and albumin are all copolymers of very similar amino acids but have quite different physical properties. In deoxyribonucleic acid (DN A), the genetic template, the sequence of monomers is precise and variations are the cause of genetic mutations. Although the polypeptides are of ultimate importance in life processes they are not important in the context of materials and will not be considered further in this book. However, they have had a significant impact on modern polymer science since the synthesis of the first man-made polyamide fibre. Nylon, by Carothers was modelled on the structure of a silk, a naturally occurring polypeptide. 

Nudelman E, Pieterse K, George A, Bomans PHH, Friedrich H, Brylka LJ et al (2010) The role of collagen in bone apatite formation in the presence of hydroxyapatite nucleation inhibitors. Nat Mater 9 1004-1009... 

Gupta HS, Seto J, Wagermaier W et al (2006) Cooperative deformation of mineral and collagen in bone at the nanoscale. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103 17741-17746... 

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