Strand Exchange of Charged Collagen-Based Peptides

摘要

Collagen is the main structural component of animal connective tissues, and has a wide variety of medical applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery [1,2]. The tertiary structure of numerous types of collagen is composed of a common structural motif- the collagen triple helix (CTH). Repeating units of GlyXaaYaa are common within the different collagens, with a propensity for X being proline and Y being hydroxyproline (Hyp). Thermally unstable domains of collagen proteins, based on regions deficient in Hyp, have been reported to facilitate the unraveling of CTH structures [3]. Collagen-mimetic peptides have also been shown interact with collagen films and intact collagen fibers presumably through a strand invasion mechanism [4,5]. Herein, we demonstrate that charged-complemented collagen peptides can show strand exchange facilitated via electrostatic interaction.