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Published on: May 4, 2018
An acidic matrix protein, Pif, is a key macromolecule for nacre formation
Michio Suzuki1, Kazuko Saruwatari, Toshihiro Kogure
1Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
Abstract:
The mollusk shell is a hard tissue consisting of calcium carbonate crystals and an organic matrix. The nacre of the shell is characterized by a stacked compartment structure with a uniformly oriented c axis of aragonite crystals in each compartment. Using a calcium carbonate-binding assay, we identified an acidic matrix protein, Pif, in the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata that specifically binds to aragonite crystals. The Pif complementary DNA (cDNA) encoded a precursor protein, which was posttranslationally cleaved to produce Pif 97 and Pif 80. The results from immunolocalization, a knockdown experiment that used RNA interference, and in vitro calcium carbonate crystallization studies strongly indicate that Pif regulates nacre formation.
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