Inhibition of apatite crystal growth by the amino-terminal segment of human salivary acidic proline-rich proteins

Abstract

Inhibition of seeded apatitic crystal growth by human salivary acidic proline-rich phosphoproteins (PRP) has been related to their adsorption onto the apatite seeds. The amino-terminal 30-residue segment of the PRP makes an important contribution to this adsorption. This peptide (PRP1(T1)) and its dephosphorylated analogue from PRP3 (PRP3(T1)DP) were prepared. They have identical sequences, except the phosphates at residues 8 and 22 in PRP1(T1) are absent from PRP3(T1)DP. Adsorption of these peptides onto hydroxyapatite and their effect on crystal growth from a defined supersaturated solution was studied. Adsorption behavior was adequately described by the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The adsorption affinity constant of PRP1(T1) (K=20,200 ml/µmol) was more than 10 times the corresponding value for PRP3(T1)DP (1,800 ml/µmol), and similar to that of the parent protein, PRP1 (26,200 ml/µmol). Inhibition of crystal growth by the peptides was interpreted in terms of the fractional coverage of the maximum number of adsorption sites (as derived from the adsorption isotherms), suggesting that the molecules block, by adsorption, specific growth sites on these surfaces. Comparison of precipitation kinetics showed that PRP1(T1) is a more effective inhibitor than PRP3(T1)DP at the same initial concentration (10⁻⁶−10⁻⁷ M). However, on the basis of per mol adsorbed, PRP3(T1)DP displays a greater inhibitory activity; such a behavior is consistent with a more open molecular structure which blocks more growth sites per mol adsorbed than PRP1(T1). Because of its high affinity constant, preadsorbed PRP1(T1) remains in the condensed state in the supersaturated solution used, whereas the preadsorbed PRP3(T1)DP molecules desorb to some extent, resulting in a decrease in inhibitory activity. The results show that the amino-terminal segment of the PRP and the two phosphoserine residues present in this segment are particularly important in the function proposed for these proteins in the oral environment.