30 June 2019 : Pathological Calcification—A Materials Perspective

Dear Colleagues,

Plants, animals and humans all experience biological mineralization processes in different tissues and contexts. Mineralization is a key biological process which, under normal conditions, is responsible for the development of hard tissues, bone, cartilage and teeth, as well as their healing processes.

In this Special Issue we bring attention to a less known biological mineralization process, but with huge impact on human health: pathological mineralization. Such mineralization takes place in practically all soft tissues as a consequence of the most diverse diseases, from dementia to cardiac conditions. In general, pathological mineralization can take the form of a wide range of materials, such as calcium phosphates, calcium carbonates, calcium oxalates and iron oxides (depending on the issue affected and type of disease).

For most calcific diseases, the causes, origins and mechanism of formation of the inorganic material in the affected soft tissue are not yet known. Only rarely have materials science methods and perspectives been applied to study calcific diseases, and research on pathological mineralization has until now been strongly rooted in biological and medical sciences, which tend not to focus on the inorganic material component of the disease.

Full papers, communications and reviews are all welcome. Representative topics include but are not limited to: cardiovascular calcification, cancer calcification, ectopic calcification, macular degenerative disease, bioinorganic material science, biomineralization associate human health, mineralomics, metallomics, inorganic biochemistry, ectopic mineralization, stenosis, calcium metabolism and phosphate metabolism.

Dr. Sergio Bertazzo
Guest Editor

Keywords

pathological calcification
calcification
calcific diseases
mineralomics

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1. Register via our system https://susy.mdpi.com/ and login;

2. Click "Submit to Special Issue" at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/special_issues/pathological_mineralization

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