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Collagen

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Collagen is the main protein of connective tissue in animals and the most abundant protein in mammals, [1] making up about 25% of the whole-body protein content. Evolutionarily, collagen has played an important role for life forms form multi-cellular bodies. Cells with collagen medium grow faster. Also, cells produce collagen in cell cultures.

Collagen is one of the long, fibrous structural proteins whose functions are quite different from those of globular proteins such as enzymes; tough bundles of collagen called collagen fibers are a major component of the extracellular matrix that supports most tissues and gives cells structure from the outside, but collagen is also found inside certain cells. Collagen has great tensile strength, and is the main component of fascia, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, bone and teeth. Along with soft keratin, it is responsible for skin strength and elasticity, and its degradation leads to wrinkles that accompany aging. It strengthens blood vessels and plays a role in tissue development. It is present in the cornea and lens of the eye in crystalline form. It is also used in cosmetic surgery and burns surgery.

<h3p>Industrial uses</h3p>

If collagen is partially hydrolyzed, the three tropocollagen strands separate into globular, random coils, producing gelatin, which is used in many foods, including flavored gelatin desserts. Besides food, gelatin has been used in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and photography industries.[2] Collagen and gelatin are poor-quality protein since they do not contain all the essential amino acids that the human body requires - they are not complete proteins. Manufacturers of collagen-based dietary supplements claim that their products can improve skin and fingernail quality as well as joint health. However, mainstream scientific research has not shown any evidence to support these claims. Individuals with problems in these areas are more likely to be suffering from some other underlying condition rather than protein deficiency.

From the Greek for glue, kolla, the word collagen means "glue producer" and refers to the early process of boiling the skin and sinews of horses and other animals to obtain glue. Collagen adhesive was used by Egyptians about 4,000 years ago, and Native Americans used it in bows about 1,500 years ago. The oldest glue in the world, carbon-dated as more than 8,000 years old, was found to be collagen — used as a protective lining on rope baskets and embroidered fabrics, and to hold utensils together; also in crisscross decorations on human skulls.[3] Collagen normally converts to gelatin, but survived due to the dry conditions. Animal glues are thermoplastic, softening again upon reheating, and so they are still used in making musical instruments such as fine violins and guitars, which may have to be reopened for repairs — an application incompatible with tough, synthetic plastic adhesives, which are permanent. Animal sinews and skins, including leather, have been used to make useful articles for millennia.

Gelatin-resorcinol-formaldehyde glue (and with formaldehyde replaced by less-toxic pentanedial and ethanedial) has been used to repair experimental incisions in rabbit lungs.[4]

<h3p>Medical uses</h3p>

Collagen has been widely used in cosmetic surgery, as a healing aid for burn patients for reconstruction of bone and a wide variety of dental, orthopedic and surgical purposes. Some points of interest are:

<ol>

Collagen is now being used as a main ingredient for some cosmetic makeup.

<h2p>Composition and structure</h2p>

The structure of collagen eluded scientists for decades. Many prominent scholars, including Nobel laureates like Watson and Crick and Linus Pauling were known to have been working on collagen structure when it was finally discovered.[6] The triple helical structure that is known to be correct in the essentials was proposed by G. N. Ramachandran and Gopinath Kartha in the year 1954. [7][8] This proposed structure came to be known as the Madras helix.

The tropocollagen or "collagen molecule" subunit is a rod about 300 nm long and 1.5 nm in diameter, made up of three polypeptide strands, each of which is a left-handed helix, not to be confused with the commonly occurring alpha helix, which is right-handed. These three left-handed helices are twisted together into a right-handed coiled coil, a triple helix or "super helix", a cooperative quaternary structure stabilized by numerous hydrogen bonds. Tropocollagen subunits spontaneously self-assemble, with regularly staggered ends, into even larger arrays in the extracellular spaces of tissues. There is some covalent crosslinking within the triple helices, and a variable amount of covalent crosslinking between tropocollagen helices, to form the different types of collagen found in different mature tissues — similar to the situation found with the α-keratins in hair. Collagen's insolubility was a barrier to study until it was found that tropocollagen from young animals can be extracted because it is not yet fully crosslinked.

In bone, entire collagen triple helices lie in a parallel, staggered array. 40 nm gaps between the ends of the tropocollagen subunits probably serve as nucleation sites for the deposition of long, hard, fine crystals of the mineral component, which is (approximately) hydroxyapatite, Ca10(PO4)6 (OH)2with some phosphate. It is in this way that certain kinds of cartilage turn into bone. Collagen gives bone its elasticity and contributes to fracture resistance.

<h2p>Types and associated disorders</h2p>

Collagen occurs in many places throughout the body. There are 28 types of collagen described in literature. Over 90% of the collagen in the body, however, are Collagens I, II, III, and IV. A simple way to remember their general functions is:

<ul>

In addition to the above mentioned disorders, excessive deposition of collagen occurs in Scleroderma.

<h2p>Staining</h2p>

In histology, collagen is brightly eosinophilic (pink) in standard H&E slides. The dye methyl violet may be used to stain the collagen in tissue samples.

The dye methyl blue can also be used to stain collagen and immunohistochemical stains are available if required.

Collagen is birefringent when stained with Sirius red F3B (C.I. 35782). [9]

<h2p>Synthesis</h2p>

<h3p>Amino acids</h3p>

Collagen has an unusual amino acid composition and sequence:

<ul>

</ul>

<h3p>Collagen I formation</h3p>

Most collagen forms in a similar manner, but the following process is typical for type I:

<ol>

</ol>

<h3p>Synthetic pathogenesis</h3p>

Vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, a serious and painful disease in which defective collagen prevents the formation of strong connective tissue. Gums deteriorate and bleed, with loss of teeth; skin discolors, and wounds do not heal. Prior to the eighteenth century, this condition was notorious among long duration military, particularly naval, expeditions during which participants were deprived of foods containing Vitamin C. In the human body, a malfunction of the immune system, called an autoimmune disease, results in an immune response in which healthy collagen fibers are systematically destroyed with inflammation of surrounding tissues. The resulting disease processes are called Lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis, or collagen tissue disorders.[10]

Many bacteria and viruses have virulence factors which destroy collagen or interfere with its production.

Julian Voss-Andreae has created sculptures based on the collagen structure out of bamboo and stainless steel. His piece "Unraveling Collagen" is, according to the artist, a "metaphor for aging and growth"[11][12].

<ul>

<li>Collagenase, the enzyme involved in collagen breakdown and remodelling. </li>

</ul>

<h2p>References</h2p>

<li id="_note-0">^ Gloria A. Di LulloDagger , Shawn M. Sweeney, Jarmo Körkkö, Leena Ala-Kokko, and James D. San Antonio; Mapping the Ligand-binding Sites and Disease-associated Mutations on the Most Abundant Protein in the Human, Type I Collagen; J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 277, Issue 6, 4223-4231, February 8, 2002 </li>

</ol>

<h2p>Additional images</h2p>

<h2p>External links</h2p>

<ul>

<li><a class="external text" title="http://macromoleculeinsights.com/collagen.php" rel="nofollow" href="http://macromoleculeinsights.com/collagen.php">The Collagen Protein</a> </li>

<li><a class="external text" title="http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/cmb/collagen/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/cmb/collagen/">Computer-generated animations of the assembly of Type I and Type IV Collagens</a> </li>

<li><a class="external text" title="http://www.cosmeticdoctors.co.uk/fillers.asp" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cosmeticdoctors.co.uk/fillers.asp">The British Association of Cosmetic Doctors - Collagen For Cosmetic Use Information Page</a> </li>

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</ul>

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