Mitochondrial Role in Cellular Mineralization

¹ Histology Department, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri 64108, USA and Anatomy Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

Light and electron microscopy followed by microincineration procedures on the cells of the growing deer antler tip showed a concentration gradient of granules as cell maturation proceeded from the primitive to the mature cell type. The distribution of the intramitochondrial granules in the various cell types suggested mitochondria in the initial phase of the mineralization process.