# NATURE OF BONE MINERAL: INCEPTION, MATURATION, AGING

> **NIH NIH R01** · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · 1988 · $150,057

## Abstract

The proposed research is designed to determine the chemical and structural
changes which take place both in the molecular configurations of bone
mineral components and in their interaction with the organic matrix during
nucleation, maturation and aging.  These changes occurring in bone as a
tissue and as an organ influence the qualify of bone fabric as a material
(mechanical support) and as an ion reservoir (physiological role).  The
delineation of those changes in normal tissue will provide a baseline to
assess the effect on the qualities of the bone fabric resulting from
pathological conditions including osteomalacia and rickets, osteoporosis
and renal osteodystrophy.  Our study will make extensive use of density
fractionation of bone, which yields tissue samples which are relatively
homogeneous with respect to the stage of maturation.  The availability of
such samples avoids the problem of major portions of the tissue obscuring
the properties of minor fractions, and allows study of the bone mineral
from the earliest solid deposits, through progressively increasing degrees
of mineralization and maturation, to the most mature stages reached during
aging.  We will also carefully dissect and study tissues which have been
shown to contain exclusively the earliest solid mineral deposits in
developing bone, and prepare newly-formed bone under controlled conditions
in bone organ culture.
We will study the tissue-age differentiated bone mineral by x-ray
diffraction, including radial distribution function analysis, nuclear
magnetic resonance spectroscopy (which is uniquely capable of elucidating
the nature of the important acid-phosphate constituent of bone mineral) and
chemical composition analyses.  The results of these studies will be
integrated to provide a detailed characterization of the major structural
and composition features of the initial mineral deposited, and the changes
which take place in the mineral component during further development,
maturation and aging.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3156720
- **Project number:** 5R01AR034081-06
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
- **SAM.gov UEI:** Z1L9F1MM1RY3
- **Principal Investigator:** MELVIN J GLIMCHER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1988
- **Award amount:** $150,057
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1983-12-01 → 1990-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3156720

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3156720, NATURE OF BONE MINERAL: INCEPTION, MATURATION, AGING (5R01AR034081-06). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3156720. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*