Figure 4

Microhardness of pleromin and other tissues. Knoop hardness (KH) of (a) vascular pleromin (VP), osteodentin (OD), and (b) compact pleromin (CP) at different maturity. Measured points are indicated in Supplementary Fig. S1 online. In (a), KH of resin (R), bovine tooth enamel (inner (I), middle (M), and outer (O) enamel) and dentin are shown for comparison. Error bars show standard deviations for Nā=ā3. Indented points in immature peritubular pleromin (PP) (PP-1, 2) and intertubular pleromin (IP) (IP-3, 4) and those in mature PP (PP-1, 2) and IP (IP-3, 4) are indicated in Supplementary Fig. S1 online. In (b), the maturity of compact pleromin (CP) increases in the order of A, B, and C. In each CP, the hardness increases from the outermost region (1 in Supplementary Fig. S1 online) to the central region (4 in Supplementary Fig. S1 online).