scholarly journals The chemistry of the collagen cross-links. A convenient synthesis of the reduction products of several collagen cross-links and cross-link precursors

1972 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman R. Davis ◽  
Allen J. Bailey

New synthetic routes to the reduction products of several collagen cross-links and cross-link precursors are described. By the use of these routes hydroxynorleucine, 5,6-dihydroxynorleucine, hydroxylysinonorleucine and hydroxylysinohydroxynorleucine can be synthesized via one common synthetic intermediate. The synthetic routes provide a convenient source of these unusual amino acids, as well as confirming the structure of hydroxylysinohydroxynorleucine and the other lysine-derived residues found in borohydride-reduced collagens.

1987 ◽  
Vol 244 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Barnard ◽  
N D Light ◽  
T J Sims ◽  
A J Bailey

The conversion of the reducible divalent cross-links in collagen to non-reducible multivalent cross-links in mature collagen has resulted in the identification of several new amino acids as the putative mature cross-link. None of these compounds has completely satisfied the necessary criteria. We have now isolated an amino acid of high Mr, derived from lysine, that is only present in high-Mr peptides derived from mature collagen. Its increase with age of the tissue correlates with the decrease in the reducible cross-links, and it is present both in mature skin and bone, which are initially cross-linked through the aldimine and oxo-imine divalent cross-link respectively. We propose that this amino acid, as yet incompletely characterized and designated compound M, is a major cross-link of mature collagen.


2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (31) ◽  
pp. 10562-10571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Stammers ◽  
Irina M. Ivanova ◽  
Izabella S. Niewczas ◽  
Anne Segonds-Pichon ◽  
Matthew Streeter ◽  
...  

Collagen is a structural protein whose internal cross-linking critically determines the properties and functions of connective tissue. Knowing how the cross-linking of collagen changes with age is key to understanding why the mechanical properties of tissues change over a lifetime. The current scientific consensus is that collagen cross-linking increases with age and that this increase leads to tendon stiffening. Here, we show that this view should be reconsidered. Using MS-based analyses, we demonstrated that during aging of healthy C57BL/6 mice, the overall levels of collagen cross-linking in tail tendon decreased with age. However, the levels of lysine glycation in collagen, which is not considered a cross-link, increased dramatically with age. We found that in 16-week-old diabetic db/db mice, glycation reaches levels similar to those observed in 98-week-old C57BL/6 mice, while the other cross-links typical of tendon collagen either decreased or remained the same as those observed in 20-week-old WT mice. These results, combined with findings from mechanical testing of tendons from these mice, indicate that overall collagen cross-linking in mouse tendon decreases with age. Our findings also reveal that lysine glycation appears to be an important factor that contributes to tendon stiffening with age and in diabetes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (12) ◽  
pp. E1635-E1644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hauke Drechsler ◽  
Andrew D. McAinsh

Human Kinesin-12 (hKif15) plays a crucial role in assembly and maintenance of the mitotic spindle. These functions of hKif15 are partially redundant with Kinesin-5 (Eg5), which can cross-link and drive the extensile sliding of antiparallel microtubules. Although both motors are known to be tetramers, the functional properties of hKif15 are less well understood. Here we reveal how single or multiple Kif15 motors can cross-link, transport, and focus the plus-ends of intersecting microtubules. During transport, Kif15 motors step simultaneously along both microtubules with relative microtubule transport driven by a velocity differential between motor domain pairs. Remarkably, this differential is affected by the underlying intersection geometry: the differential is low on parallel and extreme on antiparallel microtubules where one motor domain pair becomes immobile. As a result, when intersecting microtubules are antiparallel, canonical transport of one microtubule along the other is allowed because one motor is firmly attached to one microtubule while it is stepping on the other. When intersecting microtubules are parallel, however, Kif15 motors can drive (biased) parallel sliding because the motor simultaneously steps on both microtubules that it cross-links. These microtubule rearrangements will focus microtubule plus-ends and finally lead to the formation of parallel bundles. At the same time, Kif15 motors cooperate to suppress catastrophe events at polymerizing microtubule plus-ends, raising the possibility that Kif15 motors may synchronize the dynamics of bundles that they have assembled. Thus, Kif15 is adapted to operate on parallel microtubule substrates, a property that clearly distinguishes it from the other tetrameric spindle motor, Eg5.


1979 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 1539-1540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshifumi Miyazawa ◽  
Katsumi Takashima ◽  
Yoshikazu Mitsuda ◽  
Takashi Yamada ◽  
Shigeru Kuwata ◽  
...  

Gels ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Takuro Taniguchi ◽  
Kenji Urayama

We investigated the linear dynamic viscoelasticity of dual cross-link (DC) poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) (DC-PVA) hydrogels with permanent and transient cross-links. The concentrations of incorporated borate ions to form transient cross-links in the DC-PVA hydrogels (CBIN) were determined by the azomethine-H method. The dynamic viscoelasticity of the DC-PVA hydrogel cannot be described by a simple sum of the dynamic viscoelasticity of the PVA gel with the same permanent cross-link concentration and the PVA aqueous solution with the same borate ion concentration (CB = CBIN) as in the DC-PVA gel. The DC-PVA hydrogel exhibited a considerably higher relaxation strength, indicating that the introduction of permanent cross-links into temporary networks increases the number of viscoelastic chains with finite relaxation times. In contrast, the relaxation frequency (ωc) (given by the frequency at the maximum of loss modulus) for the DC-PVA hydrogel was slightly lower but comparable to that for a dilute PVA solution with the same CB. This signifies that the relaxation dynamics of the DC-PVA hydrogels is essentially governed by the lifetime of an interchain transient cross-link (di-diol complex of boron). The effect of permanent cross-linking on the relaxation dynamics was observed in the finite broadening of the relaxation-time distribution in the long time region.


1986 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
E J Aamodt ◽  
J G Culotti

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans should be an excellent model system in which to study the role of microtubules in mitosis, embryogenesis, morphogenesis, and nerve function. It may be studied by the use of biochemical, genetic, molecular biological, and cell biological approaches. We have purified microtubules and microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) from C. elegans by the use of the anti-tumor drug taxol (Vallee, R. B., 1982, J. Cell Biol., 92:435-44). Approximately 0.2 mg of microtubules and 0.03 mg of MAPs were isolated from each gram of C. elegans. The C. elegans microtubules were smaller in diameter than bovine microtubules assembled in vitro in the same buffer. They contained primarily 9-11 protofilaments, while the bovine microtubules contained 13 protofilaments. The principal MAP had an apparent molecular weight of 32,000 and the minor MAPs were 30,000, 45,000, 47,000, 50,000, 57,000, and 100,000-110,000 mol wt as determined by SDS-gel electrophoresis. The microtubules were observed, by electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations, to be connected by stretches of highly periodic cross-links. The cross-links connected the adjacent protofilaments of aligned microtubules, and occurred at a frequency of one cross-link every 7.7 +/- 0.9 nm, or one cross-link per tubulin dimer along the protofilament. The cross-links were removed when the MAPs were extracted from the microtubules with 0.4 M NaCl. The cross-links then re-formed when the microtubules and the MAPs were recombined in a low salt buffer. These results strongly suggest that the cross-links are composed of MAPs.


1948 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 853-859
Author(s):  
R. F. A. Altman

Abstract As numerous investigators have shown, some of the nonrubber components of Hevea latex have a decided accelerating action on the process of vulcanization. A survey of the literature on this subject points to the validity of certain general facts. 1. Among the nonrubber components of latex which have been investigated, certain nitrogenous bases appear to be most important for accelerating the rate of vulcanization. 2. These nitrogen bases apparently occur partly naturally in fresh latex, and partly as the result of putrefaction, heating, and other decomposition processes. 3. The nitrogen bases naturally present in fresh latex at later stages have been identified by Altman to be trigonelline, stachhydrine, betonicine, choline, methylamine, trimethylamine, and ammonia. These bases are markedly active in vulcanization, as will be seen in the section on experimental results. 4. The nitrogenous substances formed by the decomposition processes have only partly been identified, on the one hand as tetra- and pentamethylene diamine and some amino acids, on the other hand as alkaloids, proline, diamino acids, etc. 5. It has been generally accepted that these nitrogenous substances are derived from the proteins of the latex. 6. Decomposition appears to be connected with the formation of a considerable amount of acids. 7. The production of volatile nitrogen bases as a rule accompanies the decomposition processes. These volatile products have not been identified. 8. The active nitrogen bases, either already formed or derived from complex nitrogenous substances, seem to be soluble in water but only slightly soluble in acetone.


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