HLSC 2110U Lecture 3: Study Notes - Lecture 3
2 Feb 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Found in skin, connective tissue, blood vessel walls, sclera, cornea. Shape is a result of combining specific amino acids into regular secondary structural elements. Shapes are a result of complex interactions between secondary, tertiary, and sometimes quaternary structures. 3 polypeptides wound in a rope-like triple helix. Hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine residues maximized the hydrogen bond formation between the chains. More than 20 collagen types, 3 superfamilies. Variety in amino acid sequences of the alpha chains results in structures that are about the same size (1000 amino acids long) but with different properties. May be a gel that provides support (eg. extracellular matric or vitreous humor) May be bundled tight in parallel fibers that provide strength (eg. tendons) May be stacked and help transmit light (eg. cornea) May be arranged as fibers at an angle to each other that resist mechanical shear (eg. collagen of bone) Under an electron microscope, they have distinct banding patterns.
