In calcified tissues such as bones and teeth, mineralization is regulated by an extracellular matrix that includes noncollagenous proteins (NCP). This natural process has been adapted or mimicked to restore tissues following physical damage or demineralization by using polyanionic acids in place of NCPs, but the remineralized tissues fail to fully recover their mechanical properties. Here, we show that pretreatment with certain amphiphilic peptoids, a class of peptide-like polymers consisting of N-substituted glycines that have defined monomer sequences, enhances ordering and mineralization of collagen and induces functional remineralization of dentin lesions in vitro. In the vicinity of dentin tubules, the newly formed apatite nanocrystals are coaligned with the c-axis parallel to the tubular periphery, and recovery of tissue ultrastructure is accompanied by development of high mechanical strength. The observed effects are highly sequence-dependent with alternating polar and nonpolar groups leading to positive outcomes, whereas diblock sequences have no effect. The observations suggest aromatic groups interact with the collagen while the hydrophilic side chains bind the mineralizing constituents and highlight the potential of synthetic sequence-defined biomimetic polymers to serve as NCP mimics in tissue remineralization.

中文翻译：

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使用仿生聚合物代替非胶原蛋白来实现牙本质组织的功能再矿化

在钙化的组织（例如骨骼和牙齿）中，矿化作用是由包含非胶原蛋白（NCP）的细胞外基质调节的。通过使用聚阴离子酸代替NCP，可以对这种自然过程进行改造或模仿，以在物理损伤或软化后恢复组织，但是再矿化的组织无法完全恢复其机械性能。在这里，我们显示了用某些两亲性类肽进行预处理，这是一类由N-取代的甘氨酸组成的类肽聚合物，具有定义的单体序列，可增强胶原蛋白的有序化和矿化作用，并在体外诱导牙本质病变的功能性再矿化。在牙本质小管附近，新形成的磷灰石纳米晶体与c轴平行于管状外围，组织超微结构的恢复伴随着高机械强度的发展。观察到的效果与极性和非极性基团交替产生的序列高度相关，从而导致阳性结果，而二嵌段序列则无效果。观察结果表明，芳香族基团与胶原蛋白相互作用，而亲水性侧链结合矿化成分，并突出了合成的序列定义的仿生聚合物在组织再矿化中作为NCP模拟物的潜力。