Light microscopy, electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis of glycerinated collagen fibers.
Light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (freeze-fracture replicas and thin sections), and X-ray diffraction techniques were used to investigate the structure of rat tail tendon collagen fibers subjected to one of the following treatments: water, phosphate buffer, glutaraldehyde, glutaraldehyde followed by glycerol, glycerol, and glycerol followed by phosphate buffer. As seen by light microscopy, only treatment with glycerol induces a remarkable swelling of the native (untreated) collagen specimens. Replicas and thin sections show that this swelling is due to an expansion of the interfibrillar space, and to a dissociation of the collagen fibrils into microfibrils. X-Ray diffraction analysis reveals great disorder in the glycerol-swollen collagen fibers. However, this does not appreciably involve the microfibrillar and molecular structure. Light and electron microscopy as well as X-ray diffraction techniques show that the collagen fiber swelling induced by glycerol is an almost completely reversible process.
D000818:Animals; D005614:Freeze Fracturing; D005990:Glycerol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013710:Tendons / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
D005990:Glycerol