Osteopontin Stabilizes Metastable States Prior to Nucleation during Apatite Formation

Casper Jon Steenberg Ibsen, Denis Gebauer, Henrik Birkedal*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Osteopontin, which is a phosphoprotein with strong ties to in vivo bone mineralization, is shown to change the precipitation pathway of calcium phosphate. We show that the presence of the phosphoprotein, even in minute concentrations, can stabilize an otherwise oversaturated mixture against precipitation. At moderate concentrations, we find that the protein introduces a new intermediate state into the reaction pathway leading to apatite formation. This new intermediate was found to share many characteristics of a coacervate or polymer-induced liquid-like precursor (PILP) phase. Our results show that these types of complex phases should be considered when discussing the mechanisms of bone mineralization on a subcellular level.

Original languageEnglish
JournalChemistry of Materials
Volume28
Issue23
Pages (from-to)8550-8555
Number of pages6
ISSN0897-4756
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Dec 2016

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