Structural influence of mono and polyhydric alcohols on the stabilization of collagen

Marine collagen bio-composites materials: Interactions with small active molecules and their application in food industry

Collagen, the primary fibrillar protein found in marine organisms has gained significant attention due to its nutritional and functional properties. It plays a crucial role in food quality and textural attributes, making it a valuable ingredient in various food applications. This study focuses on the interactions of marine-derived collagen and its gelatin derivatives with small bioactive molecules, including phenolic compounds, polysaccharides, and others, which are briefly discussed. These interactions are governed by mechanisms such as hydrogen bonding, electrostatic forces, hydrophobic interactions, and van der Waals contacts, resulting in the formation of bio-composites with enhanced stability, bioavailability, and functionality. This article also highlights recent advancements in extraction methods, physicochemical characterization, and the role of collagen-based composites in food applications, such as emulsification, stabilization, and microencapsulation. Furthermore, this review also summarizes the challenges related to the lower thermal stability of marine collagen compared to mammalian sources, along with potential solutions through innovative processing techniques. Finally, the article briefly discusses how marine collagen-based bio-composites offer promising prospects for developing functional and sustainable food products.

Multifunctional Three-in-One Sensor on t-ZnO for Ultraviolet and VOC Sensing for Bioengineering Applications

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is considered to be one of the most explored and reliable sensing materials for UV detection due to its excellent properties, like a wide band gap and high exciton energy. Our current study on a photodetector based on tetrapodal ZnO (t-ZnO) reported an extremely high UV response of ~9200 for 394 nm UV illumination at 25 °C. The t-ZnO network structure and morphology were investigated using XRD and SEM. The sensor showed a UV/visible ratio of ~12 at 25 °C for 394 nm UV illumination and 443 nm visible illumination. By increasing the temperature, monotonic decreases in response and recovery time were observed. By increasing the bias voltage, the response time was found to decrease while the recovery time was increased. The maximum responsivity shifted to higher wavelengths from 394 nm to 400 nm by increasing the operating temperature from 25 °C to 100 °C. The t-ZnO networks exhibited gas-sensing performances at temperatures above 250 °C, and a maximum response of ~1.35 was recorded at 350 °C with a good repeatability and fast recovery in 16 s for 100 ppm of n-butanol vapor. This study demonstrated that t-ZnO networks are good biosensors that can be used for diverse biomedical applications like the sensing of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and ultraviolet detection under a wide range of temperatures, and may find new possibilities in biosensing applications.

Cellular memory function from 3D to 2D: Three-dimensional high density collagen microfiber cultures induce their resistance to reactive oxygen species

Cell properties generally change when the culture condition is changed. However, mesenchymal stem cells cultured on a hard material surface maintain their differentiation characteristics even after being cultured on a soft material surface. This phenomenon suggests the possibility of a cell culture material to memorize stem cell function even in changing cell culture conditions. However, there are no reports about cell memory function in three-dimensional (3D) culture. In this study, colon cancer cells were cultured with collagen microfibers (CMF) in 3D to evaluate their resistance to reactive oxygen species (ROS) in comparison with a monolayer (2D) culture condition and to understand the effect of 3D-culture on cell memory function. The ratio of ROS-negative cancer cells in 3D culture increased with increasing amounts of CMF and the highest amount of CMF was revealed to be 35-fold higher than that of the 2D condition. The ROS-negative cells ratio was maintained for 7 days after re-seeding in a 2D culture condition, suggesting a 3D-memory function of ROS resistance. The findings of this study will open up new opportunities for 3D culture to induce cell memory function.

The Global Polarity of Alcoholic Solvents and Water - Importance of the Collectively Acting Factors Density, Refractive Index and Hydrogen Bonding Forces

The DHBD quantity represents the hydroxyl group density of alcoholic solvents or water. DHBD is purely physically defined by the product of molar concentration of the solvent (N) and the factor Σn=n×f which reflects the number n and position (f-factor) of the alcoholic OH groups per molecule. Whether the hydroxyl group is either primary, secondary or tertiary is taken into account by f. Σn is clearly linearly correlated with the physical density or the refractive index of the alcohol derivative. Relationships of solvent-dependent UV/Vis absorption energies as ET (30) values, 129 Xe NMR shifts and kinetic data of 2-chloro-2-methylpropane solvolysis with DHBD are demonstrated. It can be shown that the ET (30) solvent parameter reflects the global polarity of the hydrogen bond network rather than specific H-bond acidity. Significant correlations of the log k1 rate constants of the solvolysis reaction of 2-chloro-2-methylpropane with DHBD show the physical reasoning of the approach.

Improvement of collagen self-assembly and thermal stability in the presence of trehalose

Trehalose, as a compatible osmolyte, can stabilize collagen and is beneficial to the self-assembly and mechanical properties of its products.

Unraveling the interaction mechanism between collagen and alcohols with different chain lengths and hydroxyl positions

The present study systematically investigated the effects of alcohols, including methanol, ethanol, n-butanol, and propanol with different hydroxyl group numbers and locations on the thermal stability and molecular aggregation behavior of collagen. The results of ultra-sensitive differential scanning calorimetry (US-DSC), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and intrinsic fluorescence showed that with the increase of carbon chain length, alcohols can denature collagen, accompanied by transition in triple helical structure, promoted aggregation behavior, and altered molecular interactions. However, with the number of hydroxyl groups in alcohol molecules increased, the thermal stability of collagen increased and the molecules tended to disperse. Furthermore, radial distribution function (RDF) results showed that alcohols can change the structure of the hydration layer around collagen, thus altering the aggregation morphology of collagen molecules in solution. The results of the interaction between components in different alcohol systems demonstrated that with the decrease of alcohol polarity, bridge bond networks were formed between collagen molecules. Specifically, it was found that because the hydroxyl groups in 1,3-propanediol are located at both ends of the carbon chain, the reticular bridge bond structure formed between the collagen molecules changed into chain-like bridge structure. The bridge bonds between collagen molecules were considered to be weak cross-linking, which was an important reason for the destruction of collagen structure. In this study, the mechanism of interaction between different alcohols and collagen was elucidated, which will be helpful for further development of complex alcohol and collagen products.

Factors affecting thermal stability of collagen from the aspects of extraction, processing and modification

Abstract

Collagen, as a thermal-sensitive protein, is the most abundant structural protein in animals. Native collagen has been widely applied in various fields due to its specific physicochemical and biological properties. The beneficial properties would disappear with the collapse of the unique triple helical structure during heating. Understanding thermal stability of collagen is of great significance for practical applications. Previous studies have shown the thermal stability would be affected by the different sources, extraction methods, solvent systems in vitro and modified methods. Accordingly, the factors affecting thermal stability of collagen are discussed in detail in this review.

Graphical abstract

Construction of collagen gel with high viscoelasticity and thermal stability via combining cross-linking and dehydration

Collagen gel is widely used in tissue engineering due to excellent biological properties and swollen three-dimensional network structure. To improve viscoelasticity and thermal stability, collagen gels consisting of fibrils were cross-linked with glutaraldehyde and sequentially dehydrated via ethanol or heating (named as EGC or HGC, respectively). For EGC, ethanol replaced free and loosely bound water and then combined with tightly bound water, inducing the increase in hydrogen bonds and molecular interactions. Therefore, the thermal transition temperature (T_t ) and storage modulus (G') obviously increased from 47.3 ± 0.5°C and 0.1 kPa to 92.7 ± 0.8°C and 7.8 kPa, respectively. Unfortunately, the high deformation (γ > 60%) and low recovery percentage (R < 15%) reflected the poor anti-deformation of gels due to the volatility of ethanol. For HGC, the entanglement and rigidity of fibrils increased owing to the contraction of cross-linked fibrils and cohesive action of denatured collagen. As a result, HGC were more resistant to deformation and exhibited more elasticity than native collagen gel, accompanied by the fact that G' and R increased to 28.8 kPa and 90.0% ± 0.7%. Additionally, HGC exhibited higher T_t (121.4 ± 0.5°C) due to lower water content and higher collagen concentration.

Protection effect of polyols on Rhizopus chinensis lipase counteracting the deactivation from high pressure and high temperature treatment

The influence of polyols on Rhizopus chinensis lipase (RCL) was investigated under high pressure. The poor stability of RCL was observed at 500 MPa at 60 °C without polyols which protected RCL against the loss of activity. The lipase is more stable in phosphate buffer than in tris buffer despite the protection of polyols. The activity was maintained 63% by the sorbitol of 2 mol/L in Tris-HCl buffer but 73% in phosphate buffer after the treatment at 500 MPa and 60 °C for 25 min. The same protective effects could be observed at 1 mol/L of sorbitol, erythritol, xylitol, and mannitol. However, further increase of hydroxyl group number could not significantly improve the enzyme stability. The protection of polyols on RCL appears to depend on both of the polyol nature and the hydroxyl group number. Together with fluorescence spectra, circular dichroism spectra indicated that the chaotic conformation of RCL under high pressure became more ordered with 1 mol/L sorbitol. The results showed that sorbitol effectively stabilized the lipase conformation including the hydrophobic core under extreme conditions. It might be attributed to the interaction of polyols with RCL surface to modify intra-/intermolecular hydrogen bonds, maintaining the hydrophobic interactions within RCL.

Elastic compliance of fibrillar assemblies in type I collagen

Fibrillary assemblies of Type I collagen find important applications in tissue engineering and as matrices for biophysical studies. The mechanical and structural properties of these structures are governed by factors such as protein concentration, temperature, pH and ionic strength. This study reports on an impedance based analysis of the elastic compliance of fibrillary assemblies of Type I collagen using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) at a fundamental frequency of 5 MHz and overtones (n = 3,5,7,9,11). Here, In situ partial fibrillation of the adsorbing collagen followed by its fibrillary assemblies on hydrophilic gold coated quartz surface have been crosslinked using Gallic acid (GA), Chromium (III) gallate (Cr-GA), Catechin (Cat), Tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium sulfate (THPS) and Oxazolidine (Ox). This approach allows direct comparison of how viscoelastic properties track the structural evolution of the fiber and network length scales. The collagen crosslinking shows significant positive impact on the protein's mechanical behaviour and on the type of crosslinking agents used. The elastic modulus increases as collagen <GA < THPS < Cr-GA < Cat < Ox. Atomic force microscopic studies on the adsorbed collagen after cross linking confirmed the presence of fibrous assemblies. The results indicate stabilization and reinforcement through strong physical entanglement between the molecules of collagen as well as chemical interaction between collagen matrix and fibrils during cross linking. The elastic compliance evaluated from ΔDissipation/Δfreq. from QCM-D showed that cross linking with GA, Cr-GA and Ox resulted in flexible fibrillary network while agents like THPS and Cat showed elastic moduli similar to that of pure collagen. Results suggest that optimal collagen-crosslinking agent ratio and degree of crosslinking of collagen can help tailor the mechanical properties for specific applications in design of bio-materials of these composites.

Self-assembly of collagen-based biomaterials: preparation, characterizations and biomedical applications

By combining regulatory parameters with characterization methods, researchers can selectively fabricate collagenous biomaterials with various functional responses for biomedical applications.

Collagen and hyaluronic acid hydrogel in water-in-oil microemulsion delivery systems

The increase in skin related health issues has promoted interest in research on the efficacy of microemulsion in dermal and transdermal delivery of active ingredients. Here, we assessed the water-in-oil microemulsion capacity to incorporate two natural polymers, i.e. collagen and hyaluronic acid with low and high molecular weight. Systems were extensively characterized in terms of conductivity, phase inversion studies, droplet diameter, polydispersity index and rheological properties. The results of this research indicate that the structure and extent of water phase in microemulsions is governed by ratio and amount of surfactant mixture (sorbitan ester derivatives). However, results have also shown that collagen, depending upon the weight of the molecule and its surface activity, influence the droplet size of the microemulsions. While the hyaluronic acid, especially with high molecular weight, due to the water-binding ability and hydrogel formation alters the rheological properties of the microemulsion, thus providing viscous consistency of the formulation.

Soluble silicon patterns and templates: calcium phosphate nanocrystal deposition in collagen type 1

OSA interactsviaionic cross-linking to collagen molecules; free hydroxyl ions recruit CaP nano-precursors and aid nucleation within the fibrils.

Effect of aqueous ethanol on the triple helical structure of collagen

Collagen, the most abundant protein in mammals, is widely used for making biomaterials. Recently, organic solvents have been used to fabricate collagen-based biomaterials for biological applications. It is therefore necessary to understand the behavior of collagen in the presence of organic solvents at low (≤50%, v/v) and high (≥90%, v/v) concentrations. This study was conducted to examine how collagen reacts when exposed to low and high concentrations of ethanol, one of the solvents used to make collagen-based biomaterials. Solubility testing indicated that collagen remains in solution at low concentrations (≤50%, v/v) of ethanol but precipitates (gel-like) thereafter, irrespective of the method of addition of ethanol (single shot or gradual addition); this behavior is different from that observed recently with acetonitrile. Collagen retains its triple helix in the presence of ethanol but becomes thermodynamically unstable, with substantially reduced melting temperature, with increasing concentration of ethanol. It was also found that the CD ellipticity at 222 nm, characteristic of the triple-helical structure, does not correlate with the thermal stability of collagen. Time-dependent experiments reveal that the collagen triple helix is kinetically stable in the presence of 0-40% (v/v) ethanol at low temperature (5 °C) but highly unstable in the presence of ethanol at elevated temperature (~34 °C). These results indicate that when ethanol is used to process collagen-based biomaterials, such factors as temperature and duration should be done taking into account, to prevent extensive damage to the triple-helical structure of collagen.

Fluorescent nanonetworks: a novel bioalley for collagen scaffolds and tissue engineering

Native collagen is arranged in bundles of aligned fibrils to withstand in vivo mechanical loads. Reproducing such a process under in vitro conditions has not met with major success. Our approach has been to induce nanolinks, during the self-assembly process, leading to delayed rather than inhibited fibrillogenesis. For this, a designed synthesis of nanoparticles - using starch as a template and a reflux process, which would provide a highly anisotropic (star shaped) nanoparticle, with large surface area was adopted. Anisotropy associated decrease in Morin temperature and superparamagnetic behavior was observed. Polysaccharide on the nanoparticle surface provided aqueous stability and low cytotoxicity. Starch coated nanoparticles was utilized to build polysaccharide - collagen crosslinks, which supplemented natural crosslinks in collagen, without disturbing the conformation of collagen. The resulting fibrillar lamellae showed a striking resemblance to native lamellae, but had a melting and denaturation temperature higher than native collagen. The biocompatibility and superparamagnetism of the nanoparticles also come handy in the development of stable collagen constructs for various biomedical applications, including that of MRI contrast agents.

Protein stability in stored decellularized heart valve scaffolds and diffusion kinetics of protective molecules

Decellularized tissues can be used as matrix implants. The aims of this study were to investigate protein stability and solvent accessibility in decellularized pulmonary heart valve tissues. Protein denaturation profiles of tissues were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. Protein solvent accessibility of tissue exposed to D2O, and diffusion kinetics of various protective molecules were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Little changes were observed in the protein denaturation temperature during storage, at either 5 or 40°C. Glycerol was found to stabilize proteins; it increased the protein denaturation temperature. The stabilizing effect of glycerol disappeared after washing the sample with saline solution. Hydrogen-to-deuterium exchange rates of protein amide groups were fastest in leaflet tissue, followed by artery and muscle tissue. Diffusion of glycerol was found to be fastest in muscle tissue, followed by artery and leaflet tissue. Diffusion coefficients were derived and used to estimate the time needed to reach saturation. Fixation of tissue with glutaraldehyde had little effects on exchange and diffusion rates. Diffusion rates decreased with increasing molecular size. Proteins in decellularized heart valve tissue are stable during storage. Glycerol increases protein stability in a reversible manner. Solvent accessibility studies of protein amide groups provide an additional tool to study proteins in tissues. Diffusion coefficients can be derived to simulate diffusion kinetics of protective molecules in tissues. This study provides novel tools to evaluate protein stability and solvent accessibility in tissues, which can be used to develop biopreservation strategies.

Oriented collagen nanocoatings for tissue engineering

Collagens are among the most widely present and important proteins composing the human total body, providing strength and structural stability to various tissues, from skin to bone. In this paper, we report an innovative approach to bioactivate planar surfaces with oriented collagen molecules to promote cells proliferation and alignment. The Langmuir-Blodgett technique was used to form a stable collagen film at the air-water interface and the Langmuir-Schaefer deposition was adopted to transfer it to the support surface. The deposition process was monitored by estimating the mass of the protein layers after each deposition step. Collagen films were then structurally characterized by atomic force, scanning electron and fluorescent microscopies. Finally, collagen films were functionally tested in vitro. To this aim, 3T3 cells were seeded onto the silicon supports either modified or not (control) by collagen film deposition. Cells adhesion and proliferation on collagen films were found to be greater than those on control both after 1 (p<0.05) and 7 days culture. Moreover, the functionalization of the substrate surface triggered a parallel orientation of cells when cultured on it. In conclusion, these data demonstrated that the Langmuir-Schaefer technique can be successfully used for the deposition of oriented collagen films for tissue engineering applications.

Polarizable empirical force field for acyclic polyalcohols based on the classical Drude oscillator

A polarizable empirical force field for acyclic polyalcohols based on the classical Drude oscillator is presented. The model is optimized with an emphasis on the transferability of the developed parameters among molecules of different sizes in this series and on the condensed-phase properties validated against experimental data. The importance of the explicit treatment of electronic polarizability in empirical force fields is demonstrated in the cases of this series of molecules with vicinal hydroxyl groups that can form cooperative intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Compared to the CHARMM additive force field, improved treatment of the electrostatic interactions avoids overestimation of the gas-phase dipole moments resulting in significant improvement in the treatment of the conformational energies and leads to the correct balance of intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding of glycerol as evidenced by calculated heat of vaporization being in excellent agreement with experiment. Computed condensed phase data, including crystal lattice parameters and volumes and densities of aqueous solutions are in better agreement with experimental data as compared to the corresponding additive model. Such improvements are anticipated to significantly improve the treatment of polymers in general, including biological macromolecules.

Resemblance of electrospun collagen nanofibers to their native structure

Electrospinning is a promising method to mimic the native structure of the extracellular matrix. Collagen is the material of choice, since it is a natural fibrous structural protein. It is an open question how much the spinning process preserves or alters the native structure of collagen. There are conflicting results in the literature, mainly due to the different solvent systems in use and due to the fact that gelatin is employed as a reference state for the completely unfolded state of collagen in calculations. Here we used circular dichroism (CD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to investigate the structure of regenerated collagen samples and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to illuminate the electrospun nanofibers. Collagen is mostly composed of folded and unfolded structures with different ratios, depending on the applied temperature. Therefore, CD spectra were acquired as a temperature series during thermal denaturation of native calf skin collagen type I and used as a reference basis to extract the degree of collagen folding in the regenerated electrospun samples. We discussed three different approaches to determine the folded fraction of collagen, based on CD spectra of collagen from 185 to 260 nm, since it would not be sufficient to obtain simply the fraction of folded structure θ from the ellipticity at a single wavelength of 221.5 nm. We demonstrated that collagen almost completely unfolded in fluorinated solvents and partially preserved its folded structure θ in HAc/EtOH. However, during the spinning process it refolded and the PP-II fraction increased. Nevertheless, it did not exceed 42% as deduced from the different secondary structure evaluation methods, discussed here. PP-II fractions in electrospun collagen nanofibers were almost same, being independent from the initial solvent systems which were used to solubilize the collagen for electrospinning process.

Double thermal transitions of type I collagen in acidic solution

Contributed equally to this work. To further understand the origin of the double thermal transitions of collagen in acidic solution induced by heating, the denaturation of acidic soluble collagen was investigated by micro-differential scanning calorimeter (micro-DSC), circular dichroism (CD), dynamic laser light scattering (DLLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and two-dimensional (2D) synchronous fluorescence spectrum. Micro-DSC experiments revealed that the collagen exhibited double thermal transitions, which were located within 31-37 °C (minor thermal transition, T(s) ∼ 33 °C) and 37-55 °C (major thermal transition, T(m) ∼ 40 °C), respectively. The CD spectra suggested that the thermal denaturation of collagen resulted in transition from polyproline II type structure to unordered structure. The DLLS results showed that there were mainly two kinds of collagen fibrillar aggregates with different sizes in acidic solution and the larger fibrillar aggregates (T(p2) = 40 °C) had better heat resistance than the smaller one (T(p1) = 33 °C). TEM revealed that the depolymerization of collagen fibrils occurred and the periodic cross-striations of collagen gradually disappeared with increasing temperature. The 2D fluorescence correlation spectra were also applied to investigate the thermal responses of tyrosine and phenylalanine residues at the molecular level. Finally, we could draw the conclusion that (1) the minor thermal transition was mainly due to the defibrillation of the smaller collagen fibrillar aggregates and the unfolding of a little part of triple helices; (2) the major thermal transition primarily arose from the defibrillation of the larger collagen fibrillar aggregates and the complete denaturation of the majority part of triple helices.

Effects of isopropanol on collagen fibrils in new parchment

Background

Isopropanol is widely used by conservators to relax the creases and folds of parchment artefacts. At present, little is known of the possible side effects of the chemical on parchments main structural component- collagen. This study uses X-ray Diffraction to investigate the effects of a range of isopropanol concentrations on the dimensions of the nanostructure of the collagen component of new parchment.

Results

It is found in this study that the packing features of the collagen molecules within the collagen fibril are altered by exposure to isopropanol. The results suggest that this chemical treatment can induce a loss of structural water from the collagen within parchment and thus a rearrangement of intermolecular bonding. This study also finds that the effects of isopropanol treatment are permanent to parchment artefacts and cannot be reversed with rehydration using deionised water.

Conclusions

This study has shown that isopropanol induces permanent changes to the packing features of collagen within parchment artefacts and has provided scientific evidence that its use to remove creases and folds on parchment artefacts will cause structural change that may contribute to long-term deterioration of parchment artefacts. This work provides valuable information that informs conservation practitioners regarding the use of isopropanol on parchment artefacts.

Using folding promoting agents in recombinant protein production: a review

Recombinant production has become an invaluable tool for supplying research and therapy with proteins of interest. The target proteins are not in every case soluble and/or correctly folded. That is why different production parameters such as host, cultivation conditions and co-expression of chaperones and foldases are applied in order to yield functional recombinant protein. There has been a constant increase and success in the use of folding promoting agents in recombinant protein production. Recent cases are reviewed and discussed in this chapter. Any impact of such strategies cannot be predicted and has to be analyzed and optimized for the corresponding target protein. The in vivo effects of the agents are at least partially comparable to their in vitro mode of action and have been studied by means of modern systems approaches and even in combination with folding/activity screening assays. Resulting data can be used directly for experimental planning or can be fed into knowledge-based modelling. An overview of such technologies is included in the chapter in order to facilitate a decision about the potential in vivo use of folding promoting agents.

Controlled deposition of highly oriented type I collagen mimicking in vivo collagen structures

The structural arrangement of type I collagen in vivo is critical for the normal functioning of tissues, such as bone, cornea, and blood vessels. At present, there are no low-cost techniques for fabricating aligned collagen structures for applications in regenerative medicine. Here, we report a straightforward approach to fabricate collagen films, with defined orientation of collagen fibrillar aggregates within a matrix of oriented collagen molecules. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technology was used to deposit thin films of oriented type I collagen onto substrates. It was found that collagen does not behave like classical LB materials, such as amphiphilic hydrocarbon acids or lipids. The thickness of the deposited collagen films and the area-pressure isotherms were found to depend on the amount of material spread. In addition, no film collapse was detected and the deposited LB films were thicker than the theoretical dimension of a collagen monolayer (1.5 nm) formed by triple helical collagen molecules. Individual LB films with thicknesses of up to 20 nm were obtained, and multiple depositions yielded overall film thicknesses of up to 100 nm. Films consisted of a matrix of collagen molecules containing thicker fibrillar aggregates of collagen (micrometers in length). These fibrillar aggregates were built up of shorter unit molecules forming "spun thread" structures, some of which exhibited a zigzag pattern. In addition to aligning collagen unidirectionally (similar for example to tendon), we performed a two-step deposition procedure, in which the substrate was turned 90 degrees between two consecutive collagen deposition steps. The resulting films showed orthogonally aligned collagen layers, mimicking the structure of cornea. Thus, this technique permits control of the thickness of individual layers, the orientation of successive layers, and the number of layers within the construct. Therefore, it may have widespread applicability for the engineering of collagen-rich tissues.

Dynamic shear-influenced collagen self-assembly

The ability to influence the direction of polymerization of a self-assembling biomolecular system has the potential to generate materials with extremely high anisotropy. In biological systems where highly-oriented cellular populations give rise to aligned and often load-bearing tissue such organized molecular scaffolds could aid in the contact guidance of cells for engineered tissue constructs (e.g. cornea and tendon). In this investigation we examine the detailed dynamics of pepsin-extracted type I bovine collagen assembly on a glass surface under the influence of flow between two plates. Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) imaging (60x-1.4NA) with focal plane stabilization was used to resolve and track the growth of collagen aggregates on borosilicate glass for 4 different shear rates (500, 80, 20, and 9s(-1)). The detailed morphology of the collagen fibrils/aggregates was examined using Quick Freeze Deep Etch (QFDE) electron microscopy. Nucleation of fibrils on the glass was observed to occur rapidly (approximately 2 min) followed by continued growth of the fibrils. The growth rates were dependent on flow in a complex manner with the highest rate of axial growth (0.1 micro/s) occurring at a shear rate of 9s(-1). The lowest growth rate occurred at the highest shear. Fibrils were observed to both branch and join during the experiments. The best alignment of fibrils was observed at intermediate shear rates of 20 and 80s(-1). However, the investigation revealed that fibril directional growth was not stable. At high shear rates, fibrils would often turn downstream forming what we term "hooks" which are likely the combined result of monomer interaction with the initial collagen layer or "mat" and the high shear rate. Further, QFDE examination of fibril morphology demonstrated that the assembled fibrillar structure did not possess native D-periodicity. Instead, fibrils comprised a collection of generally aligned, monomers which were self-assembled to form a fibril-like aggregate. In conclusion, though constant shear-rate clearly influences collagen fibrillar alignment, the formation of highly-organized collagenous arrays of native-like D-banded fibrils remains a challenge. Modulation of shear in combination with surface energy patterning to produce a highly-aligned initial mat may provide significant improvement of both the fibril morphology and alignment.

Purification and characterization of type II collagen from chick sternal cartilage

Type II collagen was purified from sternal cartilage of the chick using a combination of pepsin digestion, NaCl precipitation and DEAE-sepharose CL 6B ion exchange chromatography. Pepsin-solubilized type II collagen of higher stability can be obtained with the extraction time of 32h, 0.5% pepsin concentration at 20°C. The purified preparation showed a single peak on RP-HPLC and a single band (α-chain) and its dimers (β-chains) on SDS-PAGE with a subunit Mr of 110kDa. The amino acid composition of the type II collagen derived from chick cartilage was closer to that of reference Sigma-Aldrich type II collagen which contains more imino acid. Analysis by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed that type II collagen from chick sternal cartilage retains more intermolecular crosslinks during the purification process. Collagen purified from chick sternal cartilage was typical type II collagen and may find applications in functional foods.

Collagen films from swim bladders: preparation method and properties

This paper describes the preparation and characterization of collagen films extracted from swim bladders of three species of tropical fishes: Arius parkeri (Gurijuba), Cynoscion acoupa (Pescada Amarela) and Cynoscion leiarchus (Pescada Branca). Collagen was extracted under acidic conditions (CH(3)COOH, 2.5 pH) and precipitated by the addition of NaCl up to 3.0 mol L(-1). The films were prepared in acrylic containers and dried in a vacuum atmosphere. The collagen films were characterized by hydroxyproline contents, thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy and impedance spectroscopy. The determined values of 4-hydroxiproline and collagens in the films were: 105.23+/-4.48 and 873.2; 102.94+/-4.42 and 854.1; 100.65+/-4.80 and 835.8 mg g(-1) for A. parkeri, C. acoupa and C. leiarchus, respectively. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed high denaturation temperature peaks at temperatures ranging from 65.9 to 74.8 degrees C. The micrographs showed no fibrillar organization along the material, but spongy structure, with cavity diameters relatively uniform, at around 2 microm. The impedance spectroscopy presented a distributed relaxation process. A. parkeri's films showed piezoelectricity.

Cross-Linking Electrospun Type II Collagen Tissue Engineering Scaffolds with Carbodiimide in Ethanol

In trying to assess the structural integrity of electrospun type II collagen scaffolds, a modified but new technique for cross-linking collagen has been developed. Carbodiimides have been previously used to cross-link collagen in gels and in lyophilized native tissue specimens but had not been used for electrospun mats until recently. This cross-linking agent, and in particular 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC), is of extreme interest, especially for tissue-engineered scaffolds composed specifically of native polymers (e.g., collagen), because it is a zero-length cross-linking agent that has not been shown to cause any cytotoxic reactions. The unique aspect of the cross-linking protocol in this study involves the use of ethanol as the solvent for the cross-linking agent, because the pure collagen electrospun mats immediately disintegrate when placed in an aqueous solution. This study examines 2 concentrations of EDC with and without the addition of N-hydroxysuccinimide to the reaction (which has been shown to result in higher cross-linking yields in aqueous solutions) to test the hypothesis that the use of EDC in a nonaqueous solution will cross-link electrospun type II collagen fibrous matrices in a comparable manner to typical glutaraldehyde fixation protocols. The use of EDC is compared with the cross-linking effects of glutaraldehyde via mechanical testing (uniaxial tensile testing) and biochemical testing (analysis of the percentage of free amino groups). The stress-strain curves of the cross-linked samples demonstrated uniaxial tensile behavior more characteristic of native tissue than do the dry, untreated samples. The heated, 50% glutaraldehyde cross-linking protocol resulted in a mean peak stress of 0.76 MPa, a mean strain at break of 127.30%, and a mean tangential modulus of 0.89 MPa; mean values for the samples treated with the EDC protocols ranged from 0.35 to 0.60 MPa for peak stress, from 111.83 to 159.23% for strain at break, and from 0.57 to 0.92 MPa for tangential modulus. Low and high concentrations (20 mM and 200 mM, respectively) of EDC alone were comparable in extent of cross-linking (29% and 29%, respectively) to the heated 50% glutaraldehyde cross-linking protocol (30% cross-linked).