Porcine enamel matrix derivative (pEMD), a complex mixture of proteins and peptides including full-length amelogenin protein, splice variants, and proteolytic peptides, is used clinically with a carrier to regenerate supportive tissue around teeth. During application, pEMD self-assembles as nanospheres and precipitates as a three-dimensional matrix to facilitate cell migration and differentiati...

Marco Romanelli is Consultant Dermatologist, Department of Dermatology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy Amelogenin is an extracellular matrix protein with biological activity in the regeneration of the periodontium and repair of the skin. Recent published studies have highlighted the use of Xelma® (Mölnlycke Health Care AB, Göteborg, Sweden) in the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds, such as veno...

The extracellular tooth enamel matrix is a unique, protein-rich environment that provides the structural basis for the growth of long and parallel oriented enamel crystals. Here we have conducted a series of in vivo and in vitro studies to characterize the changes in matrix shape and organization that take place during the transition from ameloblast intravesicular matrices to extracellular subu...

Dental caries continues to be the most prevalent bacteria-mediated non-contagious disease of humankind. Dental professionals assert the disease can be explained by poor oral hygiene and a diet rich in sugars but this does not account for caries free individuals exposed to the same risk factors. In order to test the hypothesis that amount of amelogenin during enamel development can influence car...

The hardest tooth enamel tissue develops from a soft layer of protein-rich matrix, predominated by amelogenin that is secreted by epithelial ameloblasts in the secretory stage of tooth enamel development. During enamel formation, a well-controlled progressive removal of matrix proteins by resident proteases, Matrix metalloproteinase 20 (MMP20), and kallikrein 4 (KLK4), will provide space for th...

We have developed a new method for sex determination based on simultaneous detection of the SRY (sex-determining region Y), STS (steroid sulfatase) and amelogenin (AMELX and AMELY) gene regions and their homologous sequences. The sex of 246 blood samples was correctly determined by this method. An AMELY-deleted male sample, which would have been erroneously considered female based solely on ana...

Amelogenins are a group of extracellular enamel matrix proteins which are believed to be involved in the regulation of the size and habits of forming enamel crystals. The aim of this study was to compare the solubility properties of several amelogenins at various pH (from 4.0 to 9.0) at constant ionic strength (IS), and to examine the influence of buffer composition, IS, and divalent metal ions...

Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is present in porcine enamel extracts and is critical for proper mineralization of tooth enamel. Here, we show that the mRNA of latent TGF-β1 is expressed throughout amelogenesis. Latent TGF-β1 is activated by matrix metalloproteinase 20 (MMP20), coinciding with amelogenin processing by the same proteinase. Activated TGF-β1 binds to the major amelogenin cl...

Amelogenins containing exons 8 and 9 are alternatively spliced variants of amelogenin. Some amelogenin spliced variants have been found to promote pulp regeneration following pulp exposure. The function of the amelogenin spliced variants with the exons 8 and 9 remains unknown. In this study, we synthesized recombinant leucine rich amelogenin peptide (LRAP, A-4), LRAP plus exons 8 and 9 peptide ...