The aim of the present study was to further investigate the structure of collagen in mineralized tissues. Crosslink data collected for different ages of turkey leg tendon at the edge of mineralization showed no changes in the mature crosslink levels except those associated with mineralization. The reducible crosslink levels in the small sections of tissue analysed were below detection limits. X-ray diffraction analysis of different ages of turkey leg tendon also showed no changes in the axial and lateral structure except those associated with mineralization. Studies of the mineral crystal size with age showed that the crystal size increases from 12-week-old turkey leg tendon to 44-week-old turkey leg tendon and decreases in size from 44 weeks of age to 60 weeks of age, possibly due to a resorption of the mineral with age. This data together with the crosslink analysis data on different ages of tendon indicates that there is no change in the crosslink profile accompanying the increase in size of the mineral crystal which would be expected if the growing mineral crystal distorted the collagen structure. Telopeptide organisation studies in turkey leg tendon also showed that there are no differences in the nonmineralized and mineralized portions. Again this suggests that no crosslinks are being formed with lysine residues that are not normally involved in crosslinking as a result of collagen distortion. Other studies investigating the collagen production in mineralizing and nonmineralizing portions of turkey leg tendon <I>in vivo</I> suggest that collagen is being produced at a greater rate in the mineralizing portions than in the nonmineralizing portions. An <I>in vitro</I> study of lysine hydroxylation in bone cell culture showed no changes in the crosslinking profile in cells kept in growth media.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:641548 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Benton, Joanne |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/22610 |
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