Extended Data Fig. 7: Characterization of mineralized collagen at different time points of dissolution.
a, FT-IR spectra of mineralized collagen following hydroxyapatite dissolution for up to 6 days. Non-mineralized collagen served as control. b,c, FT-IR analysis of mineral to matrix ratio (n = 3; ****p < 0.0001) (b) and crystallinity index (CI) of matrices after different periods of mineral dissolution (n = 3; ****p < 0.0001) (c). CI was calculated by drawing a baseline between 450 cm−1 and 750 cm−1 (red dashed line) and measuring the heights of phosphate peaks at 567 cm−1 and 603 cm−1 and the height of the lowest point between them relative to the baseline. d, Representative SEM and BSE images visualizing differences in mineral content and collagen fibril diameter after different periods of mineral dissolution. Pseudocolor was generated from BSE images by converting grey-scale pixel intensity to a linear 256-bit color scale. Fibril diameter was measured from SEM images. Scale bar = 2 µm. Data are mean ± SD. Data in b and c were calculated using one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons.
