Carbonate incorporation and carbonic anhydrase activity in developing hamster molars in vitro

Hamster molar tooth germs were tested in vitro for their capacity to incorporate 45Ca, 32PO4 and H14CO3 into their mineral. Concomitantly, the activities of alkaline phosphatase and carbonic anhydrase were measured in the cultured tooth germs. Incorporation of calcium and phosphate into the dental mineral increased with time in culture (0-10 days), whereas carbonate incorporation decreased slightly. Alkaline phosphatase and carbonic anhydrase increased with time. These results suggest that carbonic anhydrase is probably not involved in carbonate deposition, but in carbonate depletion of the dental mineral, carbonate being probably replaced by phosphate.