Overview of the amorphous precursor phase strategy in biomineralization

Abstract

It was assumed for a long time that organisms produce minerals directly from a saturated solution. A few exceptions were known, including the well documented mineralized teeth of the chiton. In 1997 it was demonstrated that sea urchin larva form their calcitic spicules by first depositing a highly unstable mineral phase called amorphous calcium carbonate. This strategy has since been shown to be used by animals from other phyla and for both aragonite and calcite. Recent evidence shows that vertebrate bone mineral may also be formed via a precursor phase of amorphous calcium carbonate. This strategy thus appears to be widespread. The challenge now is to understand the mechanisms by which these unstable phases are initially formed, how they are temporarily stabilized and how they are destabilized and transform into a crystalline mature product.

Keywords

amorphous calcium carbonate / precursor phase / calcium carbonate

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ingrid Weiss for her help translating and interpreting the Kessel (1933) paper. L.A. is the incumbent of the Dorothy and Patrick Gorman Professorial Chair of Biological Ultrastructure, and S.W. is the incumbent of the Dr. Trude Burchardt Professorial Chair of Structural Biology. J.M. was supported by fellowships from the Israel Ministry of Science and Education and the Israeli Council for Higher Education. This research was supported by a grant from the Minerva Foundation and the Israel Ministry of Science.

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