Melvin Jacob Glimcher

Research is centered on the biology of the skeletal systems of vertebrates, bone, cartilage and tooth. Specific fields include ultrastructural organization of the inorganic calcium-phosphate mineral crystals and the associated organic matrix proteins in these tissues, the structural and compositional characteristics of the mineral phase studied by electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction and spectroscopy. Special emphasis on the biochemistry of the phosphorylated proteins of the extracelluar matrices of the mineralized tissues and the physical chemical mechanisms of biological calcification and its cellular control.