In Situ Multimodal Imaging of Crystallisation in Biomineralising systems

About the Project

Mineralisation of organic matrices plays a key role in the formation of hard tissues in a wide range of biological systems leading to skeletal or shell formation. In collaboration with the Diamond Light Source advanced electron, X-ray and Raman microscopy, utilising in situ liquid cell techniques, will be developed and employed to gain new and direct insights into the dynamics of mineralisation processes in biomimetic model systems by a multi-modal approach. The crystallisation of calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate model systems will be investigated in the presence of key proteins including osteopontin, dental matrix proteins, fetuin A, and polyaspartate, found to be important in the direction of biomineral formation in the context of shell or bone and teeth formation. Simulations will be carried out to quantify the effect of confinement and limited electron and ion fluxes (as found e.g. in microchip in situ cells), and electron and X-ray dose, on the mineralisation dynamics, in order to develop and optimise the in situ cell designs and improve correlation across the different techniques.

The project builds on the results of a previous joint studentship developing Raman, TEM and nanoprobe imaging of collagen mineralisation and links closely to a collaboration across York Physics, Biology and Mathematics and beam line I14 at Diamond (Dr Julia Parker, Senior beam line scientist). This studentship will investigate the role of the non-collagenous proteins (NCPs), as well as soluble shell matrix proteins (SMPs), in directing crystallisation and on mineralisation dynamics, whilst gaining a quantitative understanding of the effect that sample cell environment and beam dose have on the underlying physico-chemical processes.

How to Apply:

Applicants should apply via the University’s online application system at https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/apply/ and submit a PhD application. Please read the application guidance first so that you understand the various steps in the application process.