Accelerated Calcium Phosphate Mineralization by Peptides with Adjacent Oppositely Charged Residues

Calcium phosphate mineralizing peptides are of special importance for dental and orthopedic applications, such as caries remineralization and improved osteointegration. Uncovering the mechanism of action for such peptides is an ongoing challenge with the aim of a better fundamental understanding of biomineralization processes and developing optimized peptides for clinical use. It has recently been reported that “adjacent oppositely charged residue” motifs are found abundantly in cation binding, inorganic surface binding, or biomineralization-related proteins and may play a key role in the biomineralization events. Despite their medical importance, the role of these motifs has not yet been investigated on calcium phosphate mineral systems. To investigate this, we have designed peptides with different structural properties and different numbers of adjacent oppositely charged residues. We have evaluated their effects on in vitro calcium phosphate mineralization kinetics and mineral properties. The kinetics of the mineralization increased proportionally with an increasing number of adjacent oppositely charged residues. Two peptides with relatively high structural stability and two adjacent oppositely charged residues resulted in faster mineralization and more crystalline mineral compared to a peptide with a higher structural degree of freedom that contained only acidic residues. The fastest mineralization and the highest mineral crystallinity were obtained with a peptide containing the highest number of adjacent oppositely charged residues and highest structural degree of freedom. Our findings and observations from previously identified natural or designed peptides indicate that, in addition to structural instability, adjacent oppositely charged residues play a role in the cation binding, inorganic surface binding, and biomineralization of peptides and require further investigation. Lastly, the peptide identified in this study is an agent with potential medical applications involving the treatment of mineralized tissues.