Jingtan Su

Amorphous calcium carbonate precipitation by cellular biomineralization in mantle cell cultures of Pinctada fucata.

The growth of molluscan shell crystals is generally thought to be initiated from the extrapallial fluid by matrix proteins, however, the cellular mechanisms of shell formation pathway remain unknown. Here, we first report amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) precipitation by cellular biomineralization in primary mantle cell cultures of Pinctada fucata. Through real-time PCR and western blot analyses, we demonstrate that mantle cells retain the ability to synthesize and secrete ACCBP, Pif80 and nacrein in vitro. In addition, the cells also maintained high levels of alkaline phosphatase and carbonic anhydrase activity, enzymes responsible for shell formation. On the basis of polarized light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, we observed intracellular crystals production by mantle cells in vitro. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses revealed the crystals to be ACC, and de novo biomineralization was confirmed by following the incorporation of Sr into calcium carbonate. Our results demonstrate the ability of mantle cells to perform fundamental biomineralization processes via amorphous calcium carbonate, and these cells may be directly involved in pearl oyster shell formation.

Patterns of Expression in the Matrix Proteins Responsible for Nucleation and Growth of Aragonite Crystals in Flat Pearls of Pinctada fucata

The initial growth of the nacreous layer is crucial for comprehending the formation of nacreous aragonite. A flat pearl method in the presence of the inner-shell film was conducted to evaluate the role of matrix proteins in the initial stages of nacre biomineralization in vivo. We examined the crystals deposited on a substrate and the expression patterns of the matrix proteins in the mantle facing the substrate. In this study, the aragonite crystals nucleated on the surface at 5 days in the inner-shell film system. In the film-free system, the calcite crystals nucleated at 5 days, a new organic film covered the calcite, and the aragonite nucleated at 10 days. This meant that the nacre lamellae appeared in the inner-shell film system 5 days earlier than that in the film-free system, timing that was consistent with the maximum level of matrix proteins during the first 20 days. In addition, matrix proteins (Nacrein, MSI60, N19, N16 and Pif80) had similar expression patterns in controlling the sequential morphologies of the nacre growth in the inner-film system, while these proteins in the film-free system also had similar patterns of expression. These results suggest that matrix proteins regulate aragonite nucleation and growth with the inner-shell film in vivo.

Structural characterization of amorphous calcium carbonate-binding protein: an insight into the mechanism of amorphous calcium carbonate formation.

ACC (amorphous calcium carbonate) plays an important role in biomineralization process for its function as a precursor for calcium carbonate biominerals. However, it is unclear how biomacromolecules regulate the formation of ACC precursor in vivo. In the present study, we used biochemical experiments coupled with bioinformatics approaches to explore the mechanisms of ACC formation controlled by ACCBP (ACC-binding protein). Size-exclusion chromatography, chemical cross-linking experiments and negative staining electron microscopy reveal that ACCBP is a decamer composed of two adjacent pentamers. Sequence analyses and fluorescence quenching results indicate that ACCBP contains two Ca²⁺-binding sites. The results of in vitro crystallization experiments suggest that one Ca²⁺-binding site is critical for ACC formation and the other site affects the ACC induction efficiency. Homology modelling demonstrates that the Ca²⁺-binding sites of pentameric ACCBP are arranged in a 5-fold symmetry, which is the structural basis for ACC formation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the structural basis for protein-induced ACC formation and it will significantly improve our understanding of the amorphous precursor pathway.

Sequential Events in the Irreversible Thermal Denaturation of Human Brain-Type Creatine Kinase by Spectroscopic Methods

The non-cooperative or sequential events which occur during protein thermal denaturation are closely correlated with protein folding, stability, and physiological functions. In this research, the sequential events of human brain-type creatine kinase (hBBCK) thermal denaturation were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), CD, and intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy. DSC experiments revealed that the thermal denaturation of hBBCK was calorimetrically irreversible. The existence of several endothermic peaks suggested that the denaturation involved stepwise conformational changes, which were further verified by the discrepancy in the transition curves obtained from various spectroscopic probes. During heating, the disruption of the active site structure occurred prior to the secondary and tertiary structural changes. The thermal unfolding and aggregation of hBBCK was found to occur through sequential events. This is quite different from that of muscle-type CK (MMCK). The results herein suggest that BBCK and MMCK undergo quite dissimilar thermal unfolding pathways, although they are highly conserved in the primary and tertiary structures. A minor difference in structure might endow the isoenzymes dissimilar local stabilities in structure, which further contribute to isoenzyme-specific thermal stabilities.

Transformation of amorphous calcium carbonate nanoparticles into aragonite controlled by ACCBP

Polymorph selection during shell or pearl formation has been an intriguing issue, especially for those species of interest for human consumption. The polymorph switching of calcium carbonate controlled by amorphous calcium carbonate-binding protein (ACCBP), an extrapallial fluid (EPF) protein from the pearl oyster identified by our group in 2007, is investigated in this research. FTIR and TGA analysis suggest that ACCBP decreases the bound water content of amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC), suggesting that ACCBP may be involved in biogenic anhydrous ACC formation. In vitro crystallization and ACC transformation experiments show that ACCBP induces aragonite formation via an ACC precursor in Mg/Ca = 1 and Mg/Ca = 2 solutions at low temperature. Raman, FTIR, ICP and XPS analyses of the initial-stage ACC nanoparticles in the ACC transformation experiment suggest that this polymorph switching may be controlled by increasing the surface Mg/Ca ratio of the ACC, rather than by regulating the bulk Mg/Ca ratio or the short-range ordered structure. These results suggest that the polymorph selection in nacre or pearl growth may be controlled not only by the nucleating template on the matrix but also by the physicochemical effects of EPF proteins.

Cloning and characterization of the shell matrix protein Shematrin in scallop Chlamys farreri

The Shematrin family is unique to the organic matrices of pearl oyster shells, containing repetitive, low-complexity domains designated as XGnX (where X is a hydrophobic amino acid). Current studies suggested that Shematrins are framework proteins in the prismatic layer of Pinctada fucata; however, the exact function of Shematrin during shell formation is unclear. In this study, we cloned and characterized Shematrin, a protein highly homologous to Shematrin-2, from the mantle tissue of scallop (Chlamys farreri). Semi-quantitative reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that Shematrin is exclusively expressed in the mantle. Knocking down the expression of Shematrin in adult scallops via double-stranded RNA injection led to an abnormal folia surface. After the shell was notched, the expression level of Shematrin remarkably increased and then gradually decreased, suggesting that Shematrin is critically involved in the shell repair progress. Injection of Shematrin double-stranded RNA reduced the speed of shell regeneration and caused abnormal surface morphology of the regenerated shell. The RNA interference and shell notching experiments indicated that Shematrin plays a key role in the folia formation of C. farreri. Structure prediction showed that Shematrin may be an intrinsically disordered protein, with high flexibility and elasticity of the molecular conformation, which facilitate binding multiple protein partners. Based on the structure features, we hypothesized that Shematrin may participate in framework organization via binding with several specific acidic proteins, functioning as a molecular hub in the protein interaction networks.

Ameloblastin peptide encoded by exon 5 interacts with amelogenin N-terminus

Interactions between enamel matrix proteins are important for enamel biomineralization. In recent in situ studies, we showed that the N-terminal proteolytic product of ameloblastin co-localized with amelogenin around the prism boundaries. However, the molecular mechanisms of such interactions are still unclear. Here, in order to determine the interacting domains between amelogenin and ameloblastin, we designed four ameloblastin peptides derived from different regions of the full-length protein (AB1, AB2 and AB3 at N-terminus, and AB6 at C-terminus) and studied their interactions with recombinant amelogenin (rP172), and the tyrosine-rich amelogenin polypeptide (TRAP). A series of amelogenin Trp variants (rP172(W25), rP172(W45) and rP172(W161)) were also used for intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy. Fluorescence spectra of rP172 titrated with AB3, a peptide encoded by exon 5 of ameloblastin, showed a shift in λmax in a dose-dependent manner, indicating molecular interactions in the region encoded by exon 5 of ameloblastin. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra of amelogenin titrated with AB3 showed that amelogenin was responsible for forming α-helix in the presence of ameloblastin. Fluorescence spectra of amelogenin Trp variants as well as the spectra of TRAP titrated with AB3 showed that the N-terminus of amelogenin is involved in the interaction between ameloblastin and amelogenin. We suggest that macromolecular co-assembly between amelogenin and ameloblastin may play important roles in enamel biomineralization.

Cloning and identification of a YY-1 homolog as a potential transcription factor from Pinctada fucata.

Biomineralization is an important and ubiquitous process in organisms. The shell formation of mollusks is a typical biomineral physical activity and is used as a canonical model in biomineralization research. Most recent studies focused on the identification of matrix proteins involved in shell formation; however, little is known about their transcriptional regulation mechanism, especially the transcription factors involved in shell formation. In this study, we identified a homolog of the YY-1 transcriptional factor from Pinctada fucata, named Pf-YY-1, and characterized its expression pattern and biological functions. Pf-YY-1 has a typical zinc finger motif highly similar to those in humans, mice, and other higher organisms, which indicated its DNA-binding capability and its function as a transcription factor. Pf-YY-1 is ubiquitously expressed in many tissues, but at a higher level in the mantle, which suggested a role in biomineralization. The expression pattern of Pf-YY-1 during pearl sac development was quite similar to, and was synchronized with, those of Prisilkin-39, ACCBP, and other genes involved in biomineralization, which also suggested its function in biomineralization.