Biomineralogical Signatures of Pathological Mineralization - Lara A. Estroff

PHYSIOLOGICAL MINERALIZATION IS A DELICATELY ORCHESTRATED PROCESS necessary for healthy tissue function, as seen in bone and tooth formation. Sometimes, however, mineral deposits form in tissues that should not have mineral. This process of pathological mineralization is associated with a wide range of diseases and tissue types, including the cardiovascular system and the tumor microenvironment of multiple types of cancer. From decades of study of physiological biomineralization mechanisms, it is generally accepted that the formation of mineralized tissues and the resulting structure-function relationships in those tissues are controlled by the interplay among the mineral, matrix, and cells. The goal of Prof. Estoff and her team's work is to characterize the mineral-matrix-cell triad of pathological mineral deposits and develop in vitro models that recapitulates key aspects of pathological mineralization in a range of systems. They focus on two examples of pathological mineralization: microcalcifications (MCs), which are primarily biological apatite and occur in cancerous and benign breast pathologies, and calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD), in which mineralized lesions form in the leaflets of the aortic valve, inhibiting proper function. They have developed an omics-inspired approach, by which we define “biomineralogical signatures” by combining materials metrics derived from Raman microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy for individual mineral deposits.

LARA A. ESTROFF is a Professor in the Materials Science and Engineering department at Cornell University and the Herbert Fisk Johnson Professor of Industrial Chemistry. She is the current Chair of the Materials Science and Engineering department. Her group focuses on bio-inspired materials synthesis, crystal growth mechanisms, and the high-resolution characterization of pathological mineralization. She has received several awards, including an NSF Early Faculty Career Award in 2009 and a J.D. Watson Young Investigator’s award from NYSTAR in 2006.