Regulation of Apatite Biomineralization in the Mantis Shrimp Dactyl Club by a Newly Discovered Protein, CMP-1
Hortense Le Ferrand1,Shahrouz Amini1,Maryam Tadayon1,Jun Jie Loke1,Akshita Kumar1,Deepankumar Kanagavel1,Martial Duchamp1,Manfred Raida2,Shawn Hoon3,Ali Miserez1
Nanyang Technological University1,National University of Singapore2,A*STAR3
Shahrouz Amini, Maryam Tadayon, Jun Jie Loke, Akshita Kumar, Deepankumar Kanagavel,
Hortense Le Ferrand, Martial Duchamp, Manfred Raida, Shawn Hoon, Ali Miserez
[email protected]The dactyl club of the mantis shrimp (stomatopod) is a fascinating example of a highly organized hierarchical hard composite material that combines strength and toughness. Another peculiar feature of this appendage lies in its formation process through molting cycles: as a crustacean mantis shrimps grow an entirely defect-free functional exoskeleton within just a few weeks. This feature makes the mantis shrimp an ideal model organism to monitor biomineralization processes. In this study, a protein from the club (club Mineralization Protein 1, CMP-1) was identified and sequenced using a combined transcriptomics/proteomics approach, and shown to regulate calcium phosphate mineralization of the club. After recombinantly expressing CMP-1, we show that CMP-1 can form dense organic microdroplets through liquid-liquid phase separation induced by calcium ions. Furthermore,
in vitro experiments with TEM demonstrate that CMP-1 can participate in the formation of precursor-like amorphous calcium phosphate granules that subsequently grow into preferentially oriented crystalline apatite nanofibers.
This work not only corroborates recent observations made in other systems that proteins regulating biomineralization can initially undergo phase separation [3], but also provides a comprehensive picture of key steps involved the growth of a mechanically functional highly mineralized composite. The study thus offers guidelines for advanced bioinspired manufacturing methods for strong and tough ceramic-organic composites.
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