Extracellular matrix calcification: where is the action?

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Physiological extracellular matrix (ECM) calcification or mineralization is restricted to bones, teeth and the hypertrophic zone of growth

plate cartilage. In contrast, pathological ECM calcification can be observed in any tissue of the body. The fact that only skeletal ECM mineralizes under physiological conditions inspires

one to question whether skeletal mineralization is an active process, involving specific gene products, or whether the action lies in preventing mineralization in the ECMs of other tissues.

Results from _in vitro_ experiments suggest that ECM mineralization is, at least in part, an active process regulated by specific gene products. Type I collagen fibrils as well as bone

sialoprotein (Bsp) are present in skeletal ECM and have been demonstrated to nucleate hydroxapatite formation _ in vitro_1,2. These results, however, do not explain the absence of

calcification in tissues such as skin, in which type I collagen is expressed at high levels, and the proposed function of Bsp as a regulator of bone mineralization has not yet been confirmed

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are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support REFERENCES * Hunter, G.K. &

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AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston , 77030, Texas, USA Thorsten Schinke & Gerard Karsenty * Department

of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Marc D McKee Authors * Thorsten Schinke View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar * Marc D McKee View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Gerard Karsenty View author publications You can also search for this author

inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Schinke, T., McKee, M. & Karsenty, G. Extracellular matrix calcification:

where is the action?. _Nat Genet_ 21, 150–151 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/5928 Download citation * Issue Date: February 1999 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/5928 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone

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