Collagens are a big family of proteins, the main one forming the connective tissue in all higher animals, and represent around 25% of total proteins in mammals.
The connective tissues contain a mixture of cells, proteins, complex polysaccharides and inorganic constituents. Collagen, like elastine
and proteoglycans, is located in the extracellular matrix. The functional property of collagen is to give strength and flexibility
to the connective tissue, resisting the tensions suffered in the direction of its fibres.
The collagen molecule is a right-handed triple helix composed of three polypeptide chains. Each chain is itself a left-handed helix of about 1000 aminoacids.
At the moment there are 12 different types of collagen identified. These several kinds of collagens present some differences depending
on the tissue where they are located. All of them share some molecular organisation characteristics, but their -chain differs in the sequence and composition of aminoacids.
In the connective tissue, Native Type II Collagen is arranged in fibrils. These are polymers of collagen molecules that have
characteristic striation with a repeating distance due to the endto-end alignment of the basic molecular unit.
Its function consist in giving strength and flexibility to the connective tissue, resisting the tensions suffered in the direction of its fibres.
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CAS NO. 9007-34-5*
INCI name COLLAGEN*
* This number corresponds to general collagen.
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