Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy: The Magic Wand to View Bone at Nanoscopic Resolution

The unique potential of solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectroscopy to provide atomisticscale piercing insights into the structure and dynamics of complex biomaterials, such as the extracellular matrix of bone and related connective tissues, has been well demonstrated over the past several years. With its highly complex hierarchical architecture, bone indeed represents a significant challenge to structural studies using many conventional analytical and biophysical techniques. Recent instrumental and technological advances have considerably improved the sensitivity and resolution in multidimensional magic-angle spinning SSNMR experiments and have made it possible to obtain key high-resolution information, that are otherwise unobtainable by conventional microscopic and diffraction studies, from insoluble and amorphous heterogeneous materials of biological importance such as bone. In this review, we briefly present recent and continuing advances in the area of SSNMR of bone and related connective tissues like cartilage, by summarizing a selected ensemble of key SSNMR applications that highlight the potential with which this technique has contributed to our growing understanding of the complex structures and dynamics of these materials.