REVIEW: Polyphosphate in Bone

H. C. Schröder^*, L. Kurz, W. E. G. Müller, and B. Lorenz

Institut für Physiologische Chemie, Universität, Duesbergweg 6, D-55099 Mainz, Germany; fax: +49-6131-3925243; E-mail: hschroed@mail.uni-mainz.de

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received December 20, 1999

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Human bone-forming osteoblasts are an excellent model to investigate the multiple functions of inorganic polyphosphates (polyP) for the following reasons: 1) they contain relatively high amounts of polyP and polyP-dependent enzymes; 2) they allow the study of both general and specific functions of these polymers, and 3) medically relevant results can be expected from these studies.

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KEY WORDS: polyphosphate, pyrophosphate, bisphosphonates, exopolyphosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, pyrophosphatase, mineralization, bone, osteoblasts, SaOS-2 cells

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