PHOSPHOPROTEIN INHIBITION OF HYDROXYAPATITE DISSOLUTION

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 34, S52-S56
Abstract
A chromatography column containing hydroxyapatite beads was used to study the effect of different proteins on the rate of hydroxyapatite dissolution. The 4 phosphoproteins tested (phosvitin, .alpha.sl-casein, .beta.-casein and .kappa.-casein) markedly reduced the rate of hydroxyapatite dissolution. Three nonphosphorylated proteins had a relatively smaller effect. The effect of the protein in reducing the hydroxyapatite dissolution rate was attributed to protein binding to the surface of hydroxyapatite. The reduction in dissolution rate, expressed as the change in nmol Ca released per minute per nanomole of phosphoprotein bound to hydroxyapatite, increased with increasing number of phosphoserine residues of the protein. Phosphoproteins evidently have a regulatory role in mineralization processes and could provide a mechanism by which dietary and salivary phosphoproteins exert an anticariogenic effect.

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