Isolation, ultrastructure, and partial characterization of collagen from the perineurium of the Florida lobster, Panulirus argus
Highly concentrated extracellular filaments in the perineurium of the Florida spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, were isolated using ultracentrifugation and linear sucrose gradients. The pellet obtained was highly enriched for the filaments as observed by transmission electron microscopy. Fibril diameter and axial periodicity measurements were obtained from filaments positively and negatively stained with uranyl acetate. A period between 14.0 and 25.0 nm and an average fibril diameter of 15.0 nm were observed. The filaments proved resistant to solubilization by most conventional agents and by several collagenases. NaOH (0.1 M at 100 °C) safely dissolved the filaments for measurements of protein content by the Lowry method and carbohydrate content with anthrone reagent. These tests revealed a protein content of ≈ 84% and a high carbohydrate content of ≈ 15%. Polyacrylamide electrophoresis of an acid-pepsin filament extract revealed a highly concentrated band (approximately 100 000) corresponding to the α-1 and α-2 bands of vertebrate type I collagen. Wide angle X-ray diffraction yielded meridional reflections that confirmed the filaments as collagen when compared with mammalian collagen X-ray diffraction. The amino acid composition was determined with a computer-assisted Beckman amino acid analyzer, which showed a glycine content of 279 residues/1000. Hydroxylysine and hydroxyproline were present in lower concentrations than expected.Key words: perineurium, lobster, collagen, extracellular matrix.