Thermal conformational transformations of tropocollagen. II. Viscometric and light-scattering studies

0006-3525

Chemistry ; Polymer and Materials Science

Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000

Chemistry and Pharmacology

It was shown by viscometric measurements that a tropocollagen solution at low shear gradients manifests elastic features which can be connected only with the existence of a labile spatial structure which develops in time in the solution. To judge by the concentration dependence of the rate of formation of this structure, it does not represent a molecular net formed by direct contact of macromolecules. Most likely this structure is a result of stabilization of macromolecules at a certain distance from each other. The study of light scattering by tropocollagen solutions demonstrated that it does not correspond with the scattering by rigid rod-shaped units. Anomalies in the character of light scattering are probably the result of intermolecular interference produced by a spatial supermolecular structure and, in turn, indicate that this structure is to some extent regular. In the presence of salts the elastic features in the tropocollagen solution and anomalies in light scattering disappear in a narrow range of temperatures immediately before the process of denaturation which makes it possible to conclude that the supermolecular regular structure is disrupted in this temperature range.

16 Ill.

Electronic Resource