Abstracts Book - IMRC 2018

• SB6-O013 Invited Talk
NEW PERSPECTIVES IN PATHOLOGICAL BIOMINERALIZATION
ENABLED BY LIQUID CELL ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
Tolou Shokuhfar 1
1 University of Illinois at Chicago, PhD.Department of Bioengineerin, United States.
Currently the sciences involved in the formation, composition and growth of
pathological biominerals are not known. Hence, there are no well developed
treatments, and how to prevent their formation and growth. Current treatments
for the prevention of pathomineral related diseases such as kidney stones using
different inhibitors show inconsistent results among patients who often have
similar symptoms. The crystals of pathological biominerals undergo nucleation
and growth starting from atomic scale, and progresses to millimeter or
centimeter scales. Most of the available therapeutic treatments are designed to
address the presence of crystals that may be detected through standard
imaging techniques. At this stage of the crystal growth, these crystals become
very stable and are difficult to breakdown or dissolve. Understanding the
nanoscale crystallization of CaOx, and other pathominerals and the mechanisms
through which different crystal structures are formed could provide clues why
some medications are effective in treating only some kidney stone patients. We
have implemented an advanced microscopic studies using liquid cell
transmission electron microscopy (LC-TEM) and Electron Energy Loss
Spectroscopy ( EELS) and have provided insight into kidney stone formation,
Ferritin Biomineralization , and HA formation and growth pathways. The
sciences from these studies could in turn develop novel prevention and
treatment protocols.
Keywords: biominerals, pathomineral, kidney stones
Presenting authors email: tolou@uic.edu