The role of carboxyl groups in collagen calcification

Abstract

The present studies demonstrate the essential role of carboxyl groups in the calcification of native collagen fibres. Involvement of glutamate and aspartate residues has several important implications. Chief among them is the conclusion that the recently proposed “charge neutralization theory” is an inadequate description of normal collagen calcification. In addition, the role of phosphoprotein in dentin calcification is shown to be a minor one at most.