Identification of osteopontin in human dental calculus matrix

Osteopontin is a prominent non-collagenous component of bone matrix, although it is expressed in several other tissues. Recently, osteopontin was reported to be involved in urinary stone formation and atherosclerotic lesions of the aorta, suggesting that it may be a key protein associated with these types of pathological mineralization. In this study, whether or not human dental calculus contains osteopontin was investigated by immunoblotting and immunohistochemical analyses. After extraction of calculus proteins with EDTA and separation of the proteins by electrophoresis, immunoblotting analysis revealed the presence of osteopontin. Two forms of osteopontin appeared at 61 and 68 kDa on 10% polyacrylamide gel and the proteins were digested with thrombin, a highly specific protease. Moreover, immunohistochemical analysis revealed that osteopontin was localized in dental calculus adherent to tooth roots. These findings indicate that osteopontin is, in fact, present in human dental calculus and may be involved in calculus formation as the stone matrix.