Including humans, many multicellular organisms produce similar hard tissues, such as bones, teeth, shells, skeletal units, and spicules. These hard tissues are biocomposites and incorporate both structural macromolecules (lipids, proteins, and polysaccharides) and inorganic minerals. We do not fully understand the control mechanism of biomineralization in primitive or in developed organisms. Th...

BACKGROUND The existing evidence that nanobacteria (NB) are closely associated with human disease is overwhelming. However, their potential toxicity against cancer cells has not yet been reported. The objective of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic effects of NB and nanohydroxyapatites (nHAPs) against human breast cancer cells and to elucidate the mechanisms of action underlying their ...

Calcifying nanoparticles (CNPs, previously called nanobacteria) are self-propagating, cultivable macromolecular complexes. Their extraordinary characteristic is that they can aggregate carbonate apatite on their envelope from soluble calcium and phosphorus at physiologic concentrations and display cytotoxic effects on murine and human fibroblast cell lines. The question arises whether CNPs cont...

Biologists typically define living organisms as carbon and water-based cellular forms with “selfreplication” as the fundamental trait of the life process. However, this standard dictionary definition of life does not help scientists to categorize self-replicators like viruses, prions, proteons and artificial life. CNP also named nanobacteria were discovered in early 1990s as about 100 nanometer...

OBJECTIVES Randall initially described calcified subepithelial papillary plaques, which he hypothesized as nidi for urinary calculi. The discovery of calcifying nanoparticles (CNP), also referred to as nanobacteria, in calcified soft tissues has raised another hypothesis about their possible involvement in urinary stone formation. This research is the first attempt to investigate the potential ...

Although the lower size limit of microorganisms was previously believed to be c. 0.2mm, there is evidence for the existence of microorganisms that can pass through 0.2mm-pore-size filters called ultramicrobacteria or nanobacteria. However, information on the phylogeny and biogeography of these bacteria is limited. We obtained 53 isolates of 0.2mm-passable bacteria from 31 samples collected at 2...

AIMS Among various hypotheses proposed for pathological tissue calcification, recent evidence supports the possibility that self-replicating calcifying nanoparticles (CNPs) can contribute to such calcification. These CNPs have been detected and isolated from calcified human tissues, including blood vessels and kidney stones, and are referred to as nanobacteria. We evaluated calcific aortic valv...

Compacted bentonites are one of the best sealing and backfilling clays considered for use in Deep Geological Repositories radioactive wastes. However, an in-depth understanding their behavior after placement repository is required, including if activity indigenous microorganisms affects safety conditions. Here we provide optimized phenol:chloroform based protocol that facilitates higher DNA-yie...

Calcium and apatite granulations are demonstrated here to form in both human and fetal bovine serum in response to the simple addition of either calcium or phosphate, or a combination of both. These granulations are shown to represent precipitating complexes of protein and hydroxyapatite (HAP) that display marked pleomorphism, appearing as round, laminated particles, spindles, and films. These ...