Journal article
Microfibrillar structure of type I collagen in situ
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol.103(24), pp.9001-9005
2006
Abstract
The fibrous collagens are ubiquitous in animals and form the structural basis of all mammalian connective tissues, including those of the heart, vasculature, skin, cornea, bones, and tendons. However, in comparison with what is known of their production, turnover and physiological structure, very little is understood regarding the three-dimensional arrangement of collagen molecules in naturally occurring fibrils. This knowledge may provide insight into key biological processes such as fibrillo-genesis and tissue remodeling and into diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Here we present a crystallographic determination of the collagen type I supermolecular structure, where the molecular conformation of each collagen segment found within the naturally occurring crystallographic unit cell has been defined (P1, a ≈ 40.0 Ã…, b ≈ 27.0 Ã…, c ≈ 678 Ã…, α ≈ 89.2°, β ≈ 94.6°, γ ≈ 105.6°; reflections: 414, overlapping, 232, and nonoverlapping, 182; resolution, 5.16 Ã… axial and 11.1 Ã… equatorial). This structure shows that the molecular packing topology of the collagen molecule is such that packing neighbors are arranged to form a supertwisted (discontinuous) right-handed microfibril that interdigitates with neighboring microfibrils. This interdigitation establishes the crystallographic superlattice, which is formed of quasihexagonally packed collagen molecules. In addition, the molecular packing structure of collagen shown here provides information concerning the potential modes of action of two prominent molecules involved in human health and disease: decorin and the Matrix Metallo-Proteinase (MMP) collagenase. © 2006 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA.
Details
- Title
- Microfibrillar structure of type I collagen in situ
- Authors
- J P R O Orgel (Author) - Illinois Institute of Technology, United StatesT C Irving (Author) - Illinois Institute of Technology, United StatesA Miller (Author) - University of Stirling, United KingdomTim J Wess (Author) - Cardiff University, United Kingdom
- Publication details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol.103(24), pp.9001-9005
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Date published
- 2006
- DOI
- 10.1073/pnas.0502718103
- ISSN
- 0027-8424
- Organisation Unit
- Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic); University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450997402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Biochemistry & Molecular Biology