6533b834fe1ef96bd129d7a5

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Biomineralization toolkit: the importance of sample cleaning prior to the characterization of biomineral proteomes.

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In an interesting work published recently in PNAS, Drake et al. (1) presented a proteomic study of the skeleton from the stony coral Stylophora pistillata . This study identified proteins that are associated to the mineral phase (i.e., that potentially contribute to shape the skeleton). In other words, this set of proteins is supposed to represent the so-called “biomineralization toolkit.” Although some of the 36 proteins reported in Drake et al. (1) appear as genuine extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins related to biomineralization, such as coral acid-rich proteins or carbonic anhydrase, some others are obvious intracellular contaminants that should not be considered as skeletal organic matrix proteins (SOMPs). Indeed, Drake et al. (1) observed proteins from the cytoskeleton, … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bmarie{at}mnhn.fr. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1