BACKGROUND Mineralization in bone tissue involves stepwise cell-cell and cell-ECM interaction. Regulation of osteoblast culture microenvironments can tailor osteoblast proliferation and mineralization rate, and the quality and/or quantity of the final calcified tissue. An in vitro model to investigate the influencing factors is highly required. METHODS We developed a facile in vitro model in ...

the area is located 20 km northwest of kashmar and about 4 km of kalateh taimour in khorasan razavi province. the study area is part of tertiary volcanic-plutonic belt north of daruneh fault and its situation in tectonic inliers between two important active faults, doruneh and taknar. volcanic rocks are mainly intermediate to acid pyroclastic type. they formed during early tertiary. the volcani...

Proteoglycans in mineralized (0.5 M-EDTA/4 M-guanidinium chloride-extractable) and non-mineralized (4 M-guanidinium chloride-extractable) matrices synthesized by a mouse osteoblastic-cell line MC3T3-E1 were characterized at different phases of mineralization in vitro. Cell cultures were labelled with [35S]sulphate and either [3H]glucosamine or 3H-labelled amino acids. At the mineralization phas...

Atrazine is a widely used herbicide and is often a contaminant in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. It is uncertain, however, how the activity of soil macrofauna affects atrazine fate and transport. Therefore, we investigated whether earthworms enhance atrazine biodegradation by stimulating herbicide degrading soil microflora, or if they increase atrazine persistence by facilitating herbic...

Inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6, phytic acid) is an endogenous compound present in mammalian cells and tissues. Differentially phosphorylated forms of inositol are well-documented to have important roles in signal transduction, cell proliferation and differentiation, and IP6 in particular has been suggested to inhibit soft tissue calcification (specifically renal and vascular calcification) by b...

cheshmeh-konan area is located ~15 km northwest of tasuj, east-azarbaidjan province. the most important lithologic units of the area are red sandstones, green-gray sandstones, shale, and marl (miocene). based on field evidence and petrographical investigations, the host sediments were deposited in a peritidal setting associated with a sabkha-type environment. copper mineralization in the area o...

the study area is located in southeastern iran, about 110 km southwest of kerman. geologically, the area is composed of ophiolitic rocks, volcanic rocks, intrusive bodies and sedimentary rocks. vein mineralization within andesite, andesitic basalt, andesitic tuffs occurred along the chahar gonbad fault. sulfide mineralization in the ore deposit has taken place as dissemination, veins and veinle...

Sox9 is an SRY-related transcription factor required for expression of cartilaginous genes in the developing skeletal system and heart valve structures. In contrast to positively regulating cartilaginous matrix, Sox9 also negatively regulates matrix mineralization associated with bone formation. While the transcriptional activation of Sox9 target genes during chondrogenesis has been characteriz...

Biochar addition to soil has been reported to reduce the microbial degradation of pesticides due to sorption of the active compound. This study investigated whether the addition of hardwood biochar alters the mineralization of (14)C-labeled atrazine in two atrazine-adapted soils from Belgium and Brazil at different moisture regimens. Biochar addition resulted in an equally high or even in a sig...

Phosphorus (P) in animal manure can be an important nutrient for crops or an environmental contaminant if in excess. Organic P in dairy manure may add to the environmentally bioactive P pools upon mineralization. A 353d incubation study of manures containing C:P between 83 and 130:1 was conducted to determine linkages between C and P transformations and the effects of C:P on the immobilization-...