Effects of Phosphoprotein Moieties on the Remineralization of Human Root Caries

The noncollagenous proteins, especially phosphoprotein, have been shown to modulate biomineralization. The objective of this study was to investigate the remineralization potential of human tooth root organic matrices which did or did not contain soluble non-collagenous proteins including phosphoprotein. Human tooth roots were completely demineralized using conditions that either removed or did not remove soluble phosphoprotein and were then subjected to remineralization conditions. Removal of soluble phosphoprotein resulted in remineralization while no remineralization occurred in tooth roots that still contained soluble phosphoprotein. Transmission electron microscopy and microradiography demonstrated that demineralized cementum did not remineralize under any of the conditions used in this study. Collagenase digestion of demineralized and salt-reextracted tooth root organic matrices revealed that a nonsoluble phosphoprotein was present in the matrices. Amino acid analysis and SDS-PAGE showed that this nonsoluble phosphoprotein was similar in composition to the soluble phosphoprotein. This work suggests that the removal of soluble, noncollagenous proteins, especially phosphoprotein from root caries lesions, may enhance their remineralization potential.