Inorganic polyphosphate as a forgotten molecule in osteoblasts: from synthesis to function

Abstract

Mineral and organic constituents crucial for cellular growth, development and survival are generally conspicuous with the exception of inorganic polyphosphate (polyP). PolyP, a linear polymer of many phosphate residues linked by energy-rich phosphoanhydride bonds, remained a largely ‘forgotten’ molecule albeit being ubiquitous and significantly crucial to the survival of living organisms. In the last two decades, major clues about the role polyP have in a plethora of prokaryotic biological processes unravelled with the introduction of ...