Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
5591615 Journal of Structural Biology 2016 22 Pages PDF
Abstract
Calcium carbonate skeletal tissues in metazoans comprise a small quantity of occluded organic macromolecules, mostly proteins and polysaccharides that constitute the skeletal matrix. Because its functions in modulating the biomineralization process are well known, the skeletal matrix has been extensively studied, successively via classical biochemical approaches, via molecular biology and, in recent years, via transcriptomics and proteomics. The optimistic view that the deposition of calcium carbonate minerals requires a limited number of macromolecules has been challenged, in the last decade, by high-throughput approaches. Such approaches have made possible the rapid identification of large sets of mineral-associated proteins, i.e., 'skeletal repertoires' or 'skeletomes', in several calcifying animal models, ranging from sponges to echinoderms. One of the consequences of this expanding set of data is that a simple definition of the skeletal matrix is no longer possible. This increase in available data, however, makes it easier to compare skeletal repertoires, shedding light on the fundamental evolutionary mechanisms affecting matrix components.
Related Topics
Life Sciences Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology Molecular Biology
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