Congratulations to Dr. Janet Moradian-Oldak on her fourth competing renewal of “Matrix based mineral enamel-biomimetics,” an R01 grant she has been working on since 2001! With this grant, her lab has been able to study the structure and functionality of ameloblastin (Ambn) by looking at how it interacts with different targets, with the hope of gaining further understanding of enamel formation.
“Ambn is a matricellular protein, and its complex role in amelogenesis relies on a multitargeting property centered in the region of the sequence encoded by exon 5. Ambn interacts with ameloblast cells via the amphipathic helix (AH) domain and functions to anchor the mineralizing extracellular matrix to enamel-forming cells.”
