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Extracellular matrix calcification: where is the action?

Nature Genetics volume 21, pages 150–151 (1999)Cite this article

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 vitro1,2. 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 in vivo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston , 77030, Texas, USA

    Thorsten Schinke & Gerard Karsenty

  2. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Marc D McKee

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  1. Thorsten Schinke
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  2. Marc D McKee
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  3. Gerard Karsenty
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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

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