Vitamin C-sulfate inhibits mineralization in chondrocyte cultures: a caveat. |
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Authors: | A L Boskey R D Blank S B Doty |
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Institution: | Mineralized Tissues Research Section, Research Division, The Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021, USA. boskeya@hss.edu |
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Abstract: | Differentiating chick limb-bud mesenchymal cell micro-mass cultures routinely mineralize in the presence of 10% fetal calf serum, antibiotics, 4 mM inorganic phosphate (or 2.5 mM beta-glycerophosphate), 0.3 mg/ml glutamine and either 25 microg/ml vitamin C or 5-12 microg/ml vitamin C-sulfate. The failure of these cultures to produce a mineralized matrix (assessed by electron microscopy, 45Ca uptake and Fourier transform infrared microscopy) led to the evaluation of each of these additives. We report here that the "stable" vitamin C-sulfate (ascorbic acid-2-sulfate) causes increased sulfate incorporation into the cartilage matrix. Furthermore, the release of sulfate from the vitamin C derivative appears to be responsible for the inhibition of mineral deposition, as demonstrated in cultures with equimolar amounts of vitamin C and sodium sulfate. |
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