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Tuftelin: enamel mineralization and amelogenesis imperfecta.

Tuftelin is a novel acidic enamel protein thought to play a major role in enamel mineralization. Its identity and localization has been confirmed by amino acid composition, enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay, Western blots, indirect immunohistochemistry and high resolution protein-A gold immunocytochemistry. The deduced tuftelin protein (pI 5.2) contains 389 amino acids and has a calculated peptide molecular mass of 43,814 Da. Immunological studies suggest conservation of tuftelin structure between species throughout vertebrate evolution. The cDNA sequence encodes for several putative post-translation sites including one N-glycosylation consensus site, seven O-glycosylation sites and seven phosphorylation sites, as well as an EF-hand calcium-binding domain (with mismatch), localized towards the N-terminal region. At the C-terminal region (residues 252-345) tuftelin contains structurally relevant determinants for self assembly. We recently cloned and partially sequenced the human tuftelin gene (four exons have now been sequenced). These sequences include exon 1 and over 1000 bases of the putative promoter region. Employing fluorescent in situ hybridization, we mapped the human tuftelin gene to chromosome 1q 21-31. Localization of the human tuftelin gene to a well-defined cytogenetic region may be important in understanding the aetiology of autosomally inherited amelogenesis imperfecta, the most common enamel hereditary disease.

Amelogenesis↗

Enamel maturation.

Enamel maturation is characterized by massive crystal growth in both width and thickness, resulting in the most highly mineralized of all mammalian skeletal tissues. The control of this process is mediated via a carefully orchestrated series of events that are temporally and spatially regulated, and it requires the co-ordinated degradation and removal of the endogenous enamel matrix. This is affected by both neutral metalloproteases and serine proteases, which are developmentally restricted and may be further modulated by changes in the chemistry of the enamel crystals themselves. Failure of these mechanisms, or the adventitious entry of mineral-binding proteins during the later stages of maturation, may result in the incomplete maturation of the enamel crystals and the eruption of dysplastic tissue.

Albumins↗

Structure and function of secretory ameloblasts in enamel formation.

Secretory ameloblasts have multiple functions including the synthesis and resorption of enamel matrix proteins and calcium transport during enamel formation. We have examined these functions by means of cytochemistry and immunocytochemistry. Enamel proteins, amelogenins and enamelins are localized in the biosynthetic pathways of ameloblasts and in the forming enamel. Sulfated glycoconjugates are present in secretory ameloblasts. The distal junctional complex of ameloblasts may act as a permeability barrier to enamel proteins, thereby confining the secreted proteins to the growing enamel front. Secretory ameloblasts contain lysosomal enzymes in the Golgi lysosome endoplasmic reticulum system and also exhibit absorptive capacity, which might be associated with an early decrease in extracellularly degraded enamel proteins. Active calcium transport through the ameloblasts towards the growing enamel is indicated by the demonstration of Ca-ATPase activity along the plasma membranes. A calcium-dependent modulator protein, calmodulin, is localized in ameloblasts, suggesting that early enamel mineralization is dependent upon calmodulin-regulated Ca-ATPase in ameloblasts. These results suggest that the secretory ameloblast is a highly specialized multifunctional cell in the production, resorption and degradation of enamel matrix and in the active calcium transport essential for matrix mineralization during enamel formation.

Ameloblasts↗

Amelogenin proteins of developing dental enamel.

The amelogenins of developing dental enamel are tissue-specific proteins, rich in proline, leucine, histidine and glutamyl residues, and synthesized by the ameloblast cells of the inner enamel epithelium. These proteins comprise the bulk of the extracellular matrix that becomes mineralized with a hydroxyapatite phase to become the mature enamel. Examination of the amino acid sequences of amelogenins from a range of mammals shows a high degree of evolutionary sequence conservation, suggestive of specialized function. Recently it has been shown that multiple amelogenin components, observed in the matrix, arise both by a sequence of post-secretory proteolytic processing and by the expression of alternatively spliced mRNAs generated from the amelogenin gene(s) that are located on the sex chromosomes. Although the function of these amelogenins in enamel biomineralization is unknown, physico-chemical studies of recombinant amelogenins have shown that they undergo a self-assembly process in vitro generating supra-molecular 'nanosphere' structures, and recent observations in vivo point to a functional role for the nanospheres in the ultrastructural organization of the secretory enamel matrix, conducive to the organized development of the earliest mineral crystallites.

Alternative Splicing↗

Skeletal growth of the protohistoric Arikara.

The longitudinal growth of the long bones and growth in breadth of the ilium are assessed for a population of protohistoric Arikara Indians from South Dakota through the correlation of skeletal measurements with estimates of chronological age at death. Comparison of the Arikara growth data with those from other Indian samples (Indian Knoll and Late Woodland, Illinois) reveals similar rates of bone growth, when compensation is made for methodological variation. As predicted from documented variation in adult statures, the Indian samples indicate slower growth rates than those of Whites but faster than those of Eskimos.

Adolescent↗

Synthesis and secretion of collagen by cells of connective tissue, bone, and dentin.

The production of type I collagen by fibroblasts, odontoblasts, and osteoblasts is reviewed on the basis of results obtained by electron microscopy, 3H-proline radioautography, and immunostaining for type I procollagen. In the three cell types, the precursors of type I collagen are processed along the rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER)-Golgi-secretory granule pathway in the same manner as secretory proteins, but the available evidence suggests a few special features: 1) From the rER site of synthesis, the initial collagen precursors, known as pro-alpha chains, are transported to the Golgi apparatus within tubular structures, referred to as intermediate tubules, rather than within vesicles. 2) The pro-alpha chains coil into a triple helix within spherical distensions present along the saccules on the cis side of Golgi stacks. 3) The resulting procollagens are fairly rigid and form bundles that cause spherical distensions to lengthen into cylindrical ones, whereas by an unknown mechanism these distensions become part of the saccules on the trans-side of Golgi stacks. 4) The procollagen-containing cylindrical distensions are released from trans-saccules to become secretory granules, and some procollagen material finds its way into lysosomes. 5) The secretory granules release their procollagen content by exocytosis at the cell surface. 6) The released procollagen is transformed into collagen before or, more probably, after associating with the surface of a collagen fibril.

Animals↗

Trace fluoride and its role in enamel mineralization.

A highly reproducible seeded crystal growth method has been used to study enamel mineralization in the presence of traces of fluoride ion. The resulting increased rate of remineralization over a range of calcium phosphate supersaturation may be attributed to the formation of surface fluorapatite.

Calcium Phosphates↗

Mineral-related proteins of sea urchin teeth: Lytechinus variegatus.

Sea urchins have a set of five continuously growing teeth, each of which has a very complex structure. The mineral phase is calcite of varying Mg content, depending on the location within a tooth. The calcium carbonate is present in amorphous, plate-like and rod-like forms. It has been hypothesized that the mineral deposition is a matrix-mediated process, similar to that in vertebrate bone and tooth, wherein certain macromolecules within the organic matrix of the mineralized tissue play an important role in nucleating and controlling the growth habit of the mineral crystals. It has also been hypothesized that the mineral-related macromolecules involved in urchin teeth might bear a direct evolutionary relationship to those of the vertebrate tooth. These hypotheses are explored here by examining the pattern and nature of the mineral distribution, using microCT of intact teeth, and the nature of the mineral-related matrix proteins. The mineral-related proteins were extracted and fractionated by anion exchange chromatography. The relationship of certain fractions to vertebrate matrix proteins was established by immunoblots using antibodies to vertebrate tooth proteins. The antibodies were then used to localize the proteins within the teeth, by immunocytochemistry and histology with specific staining. The microCT data on mineral density has been correlated with the patterns of cellular migration and mineral deposition within the tooth as it grows. It appears that the mineralization within the different tooth compartments might take place under the influence of different matrix proteins. Further studies are in progress to more completely describe the vertebrate-invertebrate immunologically cross-reactive proteins of the urchin teeth.

Animals↗

Membranes, minerals, and proteins of developing vertebrate enamel.

Developing tooth enamel is formed as organized mineral in a specialized protein matrix. In order to analyze patterns of enamel mineralization and enamel protein expression in species representative of the main extant vertebrate lineages, we investigated developing teeth in a chondrichthyan, the horn shark, a teleost, the guppy, a urodele amphibian, the Mexican axolotl, an anuran amphibian, the leopard frog, two lepidosauria, a gecko and an iguana, and two mammals, a marsupial, the South American short-tailed gray opossum, and the house mouse. Electron microscopic analysis documented the presence of a distinct basal lamina in all species investigated. Subsequent stages of enamel biomineralization featured highly organized long and parallel enamel crystals in mammals, lepidosaurians, the frog, and the shark, while amorphous mineral deposits and/or randomly oriented crystals were observed in the guppy and the axolotl. In situ hybridization using a full-length mouse probe for amelogenin mRNA resulted in amelogenin specific signals in mouse, opossum, gecko, frog, axolotl, and shark. Using immunohistochemistry, amelogenin and tuftelin enamel proteins were detected in the enamel organ of many species investigated, but tuftelin epitopes were also found in other tissues. The anti-M179 antibody, however, did not react with the guppy and axolotl enameloid matrix. We conclude that basic features of vertebrate enamel/enameloid formation such as the presence of enamel proteins or the mineral deposition along the dentin-enamel junction were highly conserved in vertebrates. There were also differences in terms of enamel protein distribution and mineral organization between the vertebrates lineages. Our findings indicated a correlation between the presence of amelogenins and the presence of long and parallel hydroxyapatite crystals in tetrapods and shark.

Amelogenin↗

Mineralization patterns in elasmobranch fish.

This article reviews current findings on the organic matrix and the mineralization patterns in elasmobranchs, including an analysis of the role of the dental epithelial cells and the odontoblasts during odontogenesis. Our electron micrographs demonstrated that tubular vesicles limited by a unit membrane occupied the bulk of the elasmobranch enameloid matrix during the stage of enameloid matrix formation. It is likely that the tubular vesicles originated from the odontoblast processes. Two types of electron-dense fibrils, with cross-striations at intervals of approximately either 17 nm or 55 nm, respectively, were detected in the enameloid matrix. These data suggest that odontoblasts were strongly involved in enameloid matrix formation and in initial enameloid mineralization. Two types of odontoblasts, dark and light cells, were recognized during the stage of dentinogenesis. The light cells contained numerous mitochondria, intermediate filaments, and microtubules that extended their processes into the dentin. The dark cells possessed a well-developed Golgi apparatus and many cisternae in the rough endoplasmic reticulum, which suggests that the dark cells are involved in the formation of dentin. The inner dental epithelial (IDE) cells exhibited a well-developed Golgi apparatus, many mitochondria, cisternae of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, vesicles, vacuoles, and granules during the mineralization and maturation stages. During the stages of mineralization and early maturation, ACPase-positive granules were visible in the IDE cells and ALPase and Ca-ATPase activities were found at the lateral and proximal cell membrane of the IDE cells, suggesting that the IDE cells are involved in the removal of enameloid organic matrix and in the process of mineralization during later stages of enameloid formation. Our data indicate that elasmobranch enameloid is distinct from teleost enameloid, based on its organic content, on the mechanisms of its mineralization, and on the role of IDE cells concerning enameloid formation.

Animals↗

Correlated alkaline phosphatase histochemistry and quantitative backscattered electron imaging in the study of rat incisor ameloblasts and enamel mineralization.

The different functional conditions of pre-ameloblasts, secretory ameloblasts, and maturation ameloblasts in 9 day rat incisors were recognized using high resolution light microscopic alkaline phosphatase histochemistry: Digital backscattered electron imaging was performed using the block surfaces from which thin sections were taken for histochemical study. It was possible to correlate exact locations in histochemical sections with positions in the block face at all stages of enamel mineralization from early secretion through late maturation. The first steep increase in the rate of mineralization of completed enamel matrix occurs after the first transition from smooth ended ameloblasts to ruffle ended ameloblasts. In the 9 day rat incisors used for this purpose, there are only two smooth to ruffle cyclical transitions, and the width of successional smooth ended bands of ameloblasts in the maturation cycling process is always narrow. Nevertheless, there seems to be a good correlation between mineralization increase and the acquisition of the high alkaline phosphatase activity in the deeply enfolded distal cytoplasm of the ruffle-ended maturation stage ameloblasts.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Amelogenin sequence and enamel biomineralization in Rana pipiens.

The amelogenin gene contributes the majority of tooth enamel proteins and plays a significant role in enamel biomineralization. While several mammalian and reptilian amelogenins have been cloned and sequenced, basal vertebrate amelogenin evolution remains to be understood. In order to start elucidating the structure and function of amelogenins in the evolution of enamel, the leopard frog (Rana pipiens) was used as a model. Tissues from Rana pipiens teeth were analyzed for enamel structure and RNA extracts were processed for sequence analysis. Electron microscopy revealed that Rana pipiens enamel contains long and parallel crystals similar to mammalian enamel, while immunoreactions confirmed the site-specific localization of cross-reactive amelogenins in Rana pipiens enamel. Sequencing of amelogenin PCR products revealed a 782bp cDNA with a 546-nucleotide coding sequence encoding 181 amino acids. The homology of the newly discovered Rana pipiens amelogenin nucleotide and amino acid sequence with the published mouse amelogenin was 38.6% and 45%, respectively. These findings report the first complete amelogenin cDNA sequence in amphibians and indicate a close homology between mammalian enamel formation and Rana pipiens enamel biomineralization.

Amelogenin↗

Electron microprobe investigations into the process of hard tissue formation.

The electron microprobe microanalyser has been used to measure the concentrations of Ca, P and S in the predentine of young rat incisors. The specimens were prepared as alcohol embedded ultrathin sections, unfixed vacuum embedded dry cut ultrathin sections and as thin cryostat sections. The results show the influence of preparation on the measured compositions and indicate that Ca is tightly bound to the matrix, whereas P can be easily washed out. Measurements along the dentine-predentine border demonstrated zones of Ca enrichment, the average size of which suggests that the zones could be the prestages of calcospherites. A mineralisation mechanism is discussed in which the high Ca concentration activates pyrophosphosphatase or ATPase before the onset of nucleation.

Animals↗

Action of metalloproteinases on porcine dentin mineralization.

Samples containing predentin and mineralized dentin involving the mineralized front (newly formed dentin) were prepared by scraping developing porcine teeth after odontoblastic cell debris had been removed from the predentin surfaces. An extract was obtained separately from the matrices of predentin and of the newly formed dentin with a 4 M guanidine solution before and after demineralization with acetic acid solution. Enzymography detected 56 and 61 kDa gelatinases and 25 kDa proteoglycanase as neutral metalloproteinases in both extracts and proved them to be in an active form. Approximately half of the 56 and 61 kDa gelatinases binds to collagen fibers in predentin matrix. Three high molecular weight proteoglycans (70-85 kDa, 130-180 kDa, and 290 kDa) were found in the predentin matrix, but not in the newly formed dentin. The proteoglycanases in predentin degraded 290 kDa proteoglycan, if incubated together with calcium (Ca) ions. The results of this investigation indicate that active proteoglycanases which existed in the predentin perform no substantial work in proteoglycan degradation because the Ca ions are masked in the predentin matrix by coexisting proteoglycans. When mineralization occurs, however, they can degrade the proteoglycan at the mineralization front because excess Ca ions may be supplied via odontoblastic processes.

Animals↗

Uptake and metabolism of albumin by rodent incisor enamel in vivo and postmortem: implications for control of mineralization by albumin.

The distribution of albumin throughout enamel development in the rat mandibular incisor was investigated using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS PAGE) and Western blotting employing an anti-rat albumin antibody. Intact albumin was detectable at all stages of enamel development but was most evident during late secretion/transition. Its concentration was subsequently reduced during the maturation stage. Albumin degradation products appeared during the transition/early maturation stage indicating that albumin breakdown preceded its removal. As albumin inhibits apatite crystal growth, its degradation and removal may be a necessary prerequisite for normal enamel crystal growth, perhaps reflecting a general mechanism for removal of residual endogenous matrix or adventitious crystal growth inhibitors. Additional studies revealed that the maturation stage was particularly susceptible to albumin influx postmortem. Albumin could therefore form part of the natural crystal growth control process, which, if not removed, could hamper maturation and lead to white spot hypoplasias.

Albumins↗