Parathyroid hormone (PTH-(1-34)) potently suppresses apatite deposition in osteoblastic cultures. These inhibitory effects are mediated through signaling events following PTH receptor binding. Using both selective inhibitors and activators of protein kinase A (PKA), this study shows that a transient activation of PKA is sufficient to account for PTH's inhibition of apatite deposition. This inhibition is not a result of reduced cell proliferation, reduced alkaline phosphatase activity, increased collagenase production, or lowering medium pH. Rather, data suggest a functional relationship between matrix assembly and apatite deposition in vitro. Bone sialoprotein (BSP) and apatite co-localize in the extracellular matrix of mineralizing cultures, with matrix deposition of BSP temporally preceding that of apatite. Transient activation of PKA by either PTH-(1-34) or short term cAMP analog treatment blocks the deposition of BSP in the extracellular matrix without a significant reduction in the total amount of BSP synthesized and secreted. This effect is reversible after allowing the cultures to recover in the absence of PKA activators for several days. Thus, a transient activation of PKA may suppress mineral deposition in vitro as a consequence of altering the assembly of an extracellular matrix permissive for apatite formation.The need to better understand the biological nature of bone mineralization is illustrated by the fact that a properly mineralized endoskeleton is crucial for vertebrate survival (1, 2). To date, several biomineralization theories have been formulated, and each advances a mechanistic model to explain bone formation (3). Lately, these models have emphasized the role of several bone-specific, noncollagenous proteins (4) as promoting the tightly regulated processes of apatite crystal nucleation and growth in an extracellular environment. One such candidate is bone sialoprotein (BSP), 1 a sulfated, phosphorylated matrix glycoprotein (5-8) with a restricted pattern of expression within mineralizing tissues (9 -16), which co-localizes with the smallest detectable foci of newly forming mineralized matrix in osteoid (17).Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is a calciotropic hormone that can stimulate either formation or resorption of bone in vivo depending on such factors as dosage, delivery modality, and treatment frequency (18 -21). In vitro, a continuous exposure to PTH results in the suppression of biomineralization in primary cultures of calvarial osteoblasts (22), calvarial explants (23), or growth plate chondrocytes (24, 25). However, the molecular mechanisms mediating PTH's inhibitory effect on in vitro biomineralization reactions have not been elucidated yet. The first 34 amino acid residues in PTH contain most of the biological activity of the full-length, natural hormone including ligand-receptor binding and signal transduction functions (26, 27). Two major plasma membrane reactions occur as a result of PTH's binding to its receptor that then initiate three intracellular signaling cascades. First, there...