Inhibition of apatite formation by phosphorylated metabolites and macromolecules

Apatite formation from synthetic extracellular fluids is rate-limited both at the initial amorphous precursor deposition step and at the amorphous-crystalline transformation reaction. Nucleotide diphosphates and triphosphates and low molecular weight metabolites containing two attached ester phosphate groups all inhibited amorphous-crystalline conversion at concentrations of 10(-5) to 10(-6)M. Both native and synthetic polynucleotides as well as the phosphoproteins from rat dentin or egg yolk also inhibited crystal formation from amorphous calcium phosphate. In all cases, substantial amounts of inhibitor molecules were incorporated into the stabilized amorphous precipitates. Treatment of isolated, inhibitor-stabilized amorphous precipitates with hydrolytic enzymes such as alkaline phosphatase or papain reversed the inhibitory effect and permitted crystallization to proceed normally.