Summary
The hydrolysis of ATP, AMP and glycerophosphate (GP) at alkaline pH in mineralizing bone and teeth of young mice has been studied histochemically. The substrates were visibly hydrolyzed to the same degree in osteoblasts, cells of stratum intermedium, odontoblasts and subodontoblasts at Ca2+ concentrations ranging from 10 mM to 600 mM. In the ameloblasts, however, only ATP was hydrolyzed. The ATPase activities gradually decreased at increasing Mg2+/Ca2+ ratios. The AMPase and GPase activities, on the other hand, were visibly unaffected. Marked cellular staining, including the nuclei was seen with AMP and GP as substrates when only Mg2+ ions were added. No ATPase activity at all could be recorded in media containing Mg2+ but no Ca2+ ions. The different phosphatase activities in cells involved in hard tissue formation were identically affected by preincubations with solutions containing various concentrations of Ca2+ or Mg2+ ions. The ATPase activity in striated muscle fibres and blood vessel walls, however, was affected differently by the same procedure.
The results indicate that the phosphatase activities recorded in osteoblasts, cells of stratum intermedium, odontoblasts and subodontoblasts at alkaline pH belong to one single enzyme. The results also imply that CaATP is the preferred substrate in the enzymatic hydrolysis of ATP in hard-tissue-forming cells.
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Magnusson, B.C. The effects of magnesium and calcium ions on phosphatase activities at alkaline pH in the molar region of newborn mice. Histochemistry 42, 211–219 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00492653
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00492653