Collagen organization in an oriented fibrous capsule.
X-ray diffraction and polarized light microscopy studies were carried out on a fibrous capsule to examine the collagen organization produced in a granuloma response. The capsule had been formed around a silicone tube covered with polyester mesh following implantation in a sheep. The fibrous capsule has previously been shown to include a substantial amount of type III collagen, in addition to type I collagen. Whereas granulomas generally show little order, the sample in the present study has a high degree of orientation of the collagen fibrils along the tube direction. X-ray diffraction patterns of the capsule showed an axial D period near 65 nm, a value similar to that of other type III collagen-containing tissues. This axial period is less than the 67 nm period seen in tendon and bone, which contain only type I collagen. The decreased D period is consistent with an increase in the tilting of the collagen molecules with respect to the fibril axis.
Brodsky
B
B
Department of Biochemistry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway 08854.
Ramshaw
J A
JA
D000818:Animals; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005549:Foreign-Body Reaction / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008859:Microscopy, Polarization; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012756:Sheep; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
D003094:Collagen