Mine geologists use the term “garnierite” for the green Ni-rich silicate minerals that occur in many Ni-laterite deposits. However, garnierite is not a mineral species recognized by the Commission on New Mineral and Mineral Names (CNMMN). Actually, garnierite is a general name for the NiMg hydrosilicates that usually occur as an intimate mixture that commonly includes two or more of the followi...

The effects of creatine (Cr) supplementation on primary rat osteoblast-like cells cultured as monolayer and micromass were investigated. Cr was added to the medium at concentrations of either 10 or 20 mM. At various time points, the cell cultures were analyzed morphologically, metabolically and biochemically. The degree of differentiation of primary osteoblast-like cell cultures was higher in m...

In this work, a biologically catalyzed CO2 mineralization process for the capture of CO2 from point sources was designed, constructed at a laboratory scale, and, using standard chemical process scale-up protocols, was modeled and evaluated at an industrial scale. A yeast display system in Saccharomyces cerevisae was used to screen several carbonic anhydrase isoforms and mineralization peptides ...

While the basic cellular contributions to bone differentiation and mineralization are widely accepted, the regulation of these processes at the intracellular level remains inadequately understood. Our laboratory recently identified annexin 2 as a protein involved in osteoblastic mineralization. Annexin 2 was overexpressed twofold in SaOSLM2 osteoblastic cells as a fusion protein with green fluo...

One of our goals is to understand the mechanisms that deposit mineral within collagen fibrils, and as a first step we recently determined the size exclusion characteristics of the fibril. This study revealed that apatite crystals up to 12 unit cells in size can access the water within the fibril, whereas molecules larger than a 40-kDa protein are excluded. Based on these observations, we propos...

We investigated the effectiveness of different inoculation approaches in enhancing the mineralization of [U-14C] labeled 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (1,2,4-TCB) in soil. Inoculation was conducted with a soil-borne 1,2,4-TCB mineralizing microbial community (MC) as well as the Bordetella sp. strain F2 originally isolated from this community as the key degrader organism (IS). Both were applied either ...

The final step of biomineralization is a chemical precipitation reaction that occurs spontaneously in supersaturated or metastable salt solutions. Genetic programs direct precursor cells into a mineralization-competent state in physiological bone formation (osteogenesis) and in pathological mineralization (ectopic mineralization or calcification). Therefore, all tissues not meant to mineralize ...

PURPOSE Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is a serious condition with vast uncertainty regarding the precise mechanism leading to valve calcification. This study was undertaken to examine the role of the lipid lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) in a comparison of aortic and mitral valve cellular mineralization. METHODS The proportion of LPC in differentially calcified regions of diseased aortic...

Calcium-containing spherical bodies (calcospherulites) exist along the mineralization front of bone and are thought to play a role in bone formation. Existing methods to isolate calcospherulites involve harsh treatments that remove much of their organic matter. This study sought to isolate them using a less destructive approach to better preserve their organic components. Juvenile rats were inj...