Macromolecules of Extracellular Matrix: Determination of Selective Structures and Their Functional Significance

In this brief review, I recount events and scientific endeavors in which I have been privileged to participate. The descriptive information includes discovery and characterization of hydroxylysine glycosides from collagen, isolation of dentin sialoprotein (DSP), investigations on dentin phosphoprotein (DPP), and the discovery of a single-gene for both DSP and DPP that requires posttranslational proteolytic cleavage of the parent DSPP molecule to generate the two fragments. Finally, I address our unexpected finding of fragments of DMPI-in bone extracts. These fragments are from the NH2-terminal (37 kDa) and COON-terminal (57 kDa) regions of DMPI. Our studies showed that, similar to DSPP, DMPI is proteolytically processed-by cleavages at X-Asp bonds.