The concentration, extractability and characterization of collagen in human dental pulp

Immunofluorescent localization and extractability of fibronectin in human dental pulp

“…Immunofluorescence showed a strong resemblance in the alignment of fibronectin and argyrophilic and von Korff fibres, suggesting that these fibres do contain or are accompanied by fibronectin, in agreement with the findings of Bornstein and Ash (1977) Stenman and Vaheri (1978) and Unsworth et al (1982) all of whom suggest that the co-distribution of fibronectin and collagen is due to an affinity of one for the other. We previously found that the collagen content of the radicular part of the pulp was substantially higher than that of the coronal part (van Amerongen et al, 1983). In view of the affinity of fibronectin for collagen it is therefore interesting that our present findings also reveal that the apical part contains a substantially higher amount of fibronectin than other parts of the pulp.…”

“…Dental pulps were obtained from human premolars immediately after extraction for orthodontic reasons from children aged 9-l 5 yr as described by van Amerongen et al (1983), embedded in 10 per cent gelatin in 0.9 per cent sodium chloride and stored in liquid nitrogen. Sections 6pm thick were cut in a cryostat (at -2OC) and fixed for 30 min in 2 per cent p-formaldehyde in PBS at 4°C.…”

“…Centrifugation took place at 100,OOOg for 60 min. (5) Two millilitres of chloroformmethanol (2: 1, vol/vol) for 60 min at 4°C (Folch, Lees and Sloane Stanley, 1957 Amerongen et al, 1983). tSD = standard deviation.…”

“…Pooled human serum of known fibronectin content was used as a standard. The percentage fibronectin was calculated on the basis of the dry weights of human premolar pulps (van Amerongen et al, 1983). A check for non-specific precipitation was carried out by exchanging the anti-fibronectin IgG for normal rabbit IgG.…”

“…Previous biochemical studies on the extracellular matrix of human dental pulp revealed the concentration of collagen, its degree of cross-linking, as well as the types and amounts which are present (van Amerongen, Lemmens and Tonino, 1983). Pulp tissue is a loose connective tissue containing, next to collagen as main organic components, proteoglycans and glycoproteins (Seltzer and Bender, 1975).…”