Changes in the properties of reconstituted collagen brought about by mechanical treatment.

Abstract

GROSS has shown that the decreasing ability of a collagen gel to pass back into solution when the pH or the temperature is lowered represents an ageing effect in in vitro collagen gels1. These alterations in physical properties may be a result of the formation of covalent cross linkages between oxidized lysine residues in one tropo-collagen molecule and free lysine e-amino groups in adjacent ones2. We have shown that similar changes in physical properties and alterations in the enzyme susceptibility of the precipitated collagen are caused by the application of cyclical mechanical stress to the collagen during the period of precipitation.