Dynamic interaction between the growing Ca-P minerals and bacterial cellulose nanofibers during early biomineralization process

Bone is a composite of organic phase (collagen nanofibers) and Ca-P minerals (hydroxylapatite) and an important biological structure in the field of biomineralization, but the interaction between organic matrixes and inorganic minerals is still too ambiguous. In order to investigate the interaction between the growing Ca-P minerals and organic nanofibers during early biomineralization process, bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers were used as templates to mimic collagen nanofibers for Ca-P minerals deposition via biomineralization for periods from as short as 4-72 h. Our findings pointed out that the resultant Ca-P minerals formed on BC nanofibers were platelet-like calcium-deficient HAp which was analogous to those in natural bone tissue. Strikingly, we found that the growth of Ca-P minerals had influence on the structure and properties of BC nano-templates during biomineralization process.