骨胶原纤维的大范围高分辨AFM形貌图分析

This approach intrinsically brings a major issue: Bone is not a simple composite, but in fact, a nanocomposite consisting of both organic and inorganic components, with typical sizes ranging from 2nm up to several μm. Therefore, investigations of the ultrastructural composition of these building blocks in a close-to-physiological state are still emerging. On the molecular and macromolecular level bone consists of: hydroxyapatite [calcium phosphate: Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2] crystals with typical sizes of 2nm x 20nm x 50nm, collagen type I molecules, assembled into collagen fibrils with diameters between 50nm and 500nm and lengths of several μm, as well as a fair number of noncollagenous proteins being about 1nm in diameter and having sizes on the order of 100nm.