Molecular and ultrastructural studies of a fibrillar collagen from octocoral (Cnidaria)
Abstract
We report here the biochemical, molecular and ultrastructural features of a unique organization of fibrillar collagen extracted from the octocoral Sarcophyton ehrenbergi. Collagen, the most abundant protein in the animal kingdom, is often defined as a structural component of extra-cellular matrices in metazoans. In the present study, collagen fibers were extracted from the mesenteries of S. ehrenbergi polyps. These fibers are organized as filaments and further compacted as coiled fibers. The fibers are uniquely long, reaching an unprecedented length of tens of centimeters. The diameter of these fibers is 9 ±0.37 µm.The amino acid content of these fibers was identified using chromatography and revealed close similarity in content to mammalian type I and II collagens. The ultrastructural organization of the fibers was characterized by means of high resolution microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The fibers are composed of fibrils and fibril bundles in the range of 15 to 35 nm. These data indicate a fibrillar collagen possessing structural aspects of both types I and II, a highly interesting and newly described form of fibrillar collagen organization.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1242/jeb.163824
Entities
People
- Dafna Benayahu
- Ido Sella
- Joseph Orgel
- Olga Antipova
- Rama S Madhurapantula
- Yael Mandelberg
- Yehuda Benayahu
- Yoel Kashman
Organizations
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Army Research Office
- Illinois Institute of Technology
- Ministry of Health
- National Institutes of Health
- Tel Aviv University
- United States Department of Energy