Acceleration of the initial phase transformation of mineralization by phosvitin

• Phosvitin significantly accelerated the phase transformation.
• Phosvitin was involved in the initial phase of mineralization.
• Phosvitin–Ca2+ interaction played a key role in the regulation of mineralization.
• This role was closely associated with high level of phosphorylation of phosvitin.

Phosvitin has a similar structure and similar properties to the phosphorylated proteins that play an important role in biomineralization, suggesting that phosvitin may have similar regulation properties. This study investigated the effect of phosvitin on regulating the phase transformation of the mineral calcium phosphate in a biomimetic mineralization solution; the characterization techniques used were Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results clearly demonstrated that phosvitin significantly promotes the initiation of phase transformation, accelerated the transformation process and shortened the transformation time from 6 to 0.5 h. Phosvitin was involved in the phase transformation and incorporated into or strongly absorbed on the mineral, as evidenced by the protein peaks observed in the FTIR spectra and XRD patterns. The effects of the substrate-addition sequence on the phase transformation demonstrated that the phosvitin-Ca2+ interaction played a key role in the regulation of mineralization. Compared with those for BSA, the results revealed that the role of phosvitin in mineralization is closely associated with its high level of phosphorylation. This study provides useful information about using phosvitin as a potential candidate for biomaterials.