Journal
TRENDS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
Volume 32, Issue 9, Pages 441-447Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2014.05.004
Keywords
biomineralization; enzymes; biosilica; biocalcite; sponges; regenerative medicine
Categories
Funding
- European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Investigator Grant (BIOSILICA) [268476]
- German Bundesministerium far Bildung und Forschung
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [SCHR 277/10-3]
- European Commission [286059, 604036, 311848]
- International Human Frontier Science Program
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The oldest animals on Earth, sponges, form both the calcareous and the siliceous matrices of their spicules enzymatically. Until recently, it has been neglected that enzymes play crucial roles during formation of these biominerals. This paradigm shift occurred after the discovery that the enzyme silicatein, which catalyzes the polycondensation of silica, and the enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA), which catalyzes the formation of bicarbonate (HCO3(-)/CaCO3), produce solid amorphous bioglass or biocalcite. This suggests that in mammals, biosilica and biocalcite can act anabolically during hydroxyapatite (HA) synthesis and bone formation. Biosilica and biocalcite are thus promising candidates for the fabrication of biomaterials for regenerative medicine.
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