title: Calcium carbonate mineralization mediated by in vitro cultured mantle cells from Pinctada fucata.
abstract: Formation of the molluscan shell is believed to be an extracellular event mediated by matrix proteins. We report calcium carbonate mineralization mediated by Pinctada fucata mantle cells. Crystals only appeared when mantle cells were present in the crystallization solution. These crystals were piled up in highly ordered units and showed the typical characteristics of biomineralization products. A thin organic framework was observed after dissolving the crystals in EDTA. Some crystals had etched surfaces with a much smoother appearance than other parts. Mantle cells were observed to be attached to some of these smooth surfaces. These results suggest that mantle cells may be directly involved in the nucleation and remodeling process of calcium carbonate mineralization. Our result demonstrate the practicability of studying the mantle cell mechanism of biomineralization and contribute to the overall understanding of the shell formation process.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Deep Sea Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Deep Sea Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Shiguo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Deep Sea Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Deep Sea Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Electronic address: lpxie@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Deep Sea Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Electronic address: rqzhang@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Rongqing
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000737:chemistry*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003460:Crystallization; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D049911:Pinctada / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D002119:Calcium Carbonate
keywords: Calcium carbonate crystals; In vitro culture; Mantle; Primary cells