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Structure of Collagen

2017-04-12

 

Collagen peptide it is polypeptide strands. Individually there are three polypeptide strands. These are called alpha chains and each of them has a conformation of a left-handed helix. An alpha helix is a different structure with a right handed conformation. The collagen molecule, also known as the “tropocollagen”, is part of larger collagen aggregates such as fibrils. The whole molecule is approximately 300 nm long and 1.5 nm in diameter.
Further the three left-handed helices are twisted together into a right-handed coiled coil, forming a triple helix or "super helix". The final cooperative quaternary structure stabilized by numerous hydrogen bonds.
In type I collagen, and possibly all fibrillar collagens if not all collagens, each of the triple helices forms a right-handed super-super-coil that is referred to as the collagen microfibril. 
Thereafter, each of the microfibril is interdigitated or intercalated with its neighboring microfibrils. This strengthens the structure of the individual molecules.