Abstract
Summary
Quantitative x-ray diffraction analyses of histological tissue zones representing progressive stages of endochondral and periosteal bone formation reveal that both amorphous and apatitic calcium phosphate salts appear throughout the entire mineralization process. The amorphous-crystalline mineral sequence exhibited by these tissue zones suggests that calcification in both cartilage and bone may entail an initial deposition of amorphous calcium phosphate followed by the conversion of this kinetically metastable, non-crystalline mineral phase to crystalline apatite.
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