title: Promotion of calcification on carboxymethylchitin discs.
abstract: A series of water-insoluble carboxymethylchitin (CM-chitin) discs of varying degrees of substitution (d.s.) has been investigated for their interaction with calcium phosphate. Discs of d.s. 0.03, 0.11, 0.14 and 0.23 were prepared by casting from solutions of CM-chitin in 90% formic acid. Calcium uptake and calcium phosphate nucleation were found to increase with the degree of substitution of the CM-chitin discs. The results suggest that water-insoluble CM-chitin may be useful as a platform for in vivo calcification.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge, Singapore.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Khor
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Hastings
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002118:Calcium; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D002686:Chitin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010710:Phosphates; D012996:Solutions; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002130:Calcium Phosphates; D010710:Phosphates; D012996:Solutions; C485828:alpha-tricalcium phosphate; C485830:tetracalcium phosphate; D002686:Chitin; C044872:O-(carboxymethyl)chitin; C485838:calcium phosphate, monobasic, anhydrous; C020243:calcium phosphate; C485829:calcium phosphate, dibasic, anhydrous; D002118:Calcium