title: In vitro degradation of dermal sheep collagen cross-linked using a water-soluble carbodiimide.
abstract: Bacterial collagenase was used to study the susceptibility of dermal sheep collagen (DSC) cross-linked with a mixture of the water-soluble carbodiimide 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl)-carbodiimide hydrochloride and N-hydroxysuccinimide (E/N-DSC) towards enzymatic degradation. Contrary to non-cross-linked DSC (N-DSC), which had a rate of weight-loss of 18.1% per hour upon degradation, no weight loss was observed for E/N-DSC during a 24 h degradation period. The tensile strength of the E/N-DSC samples decreased during this time period, resulting in partially degraded samples having 80% of the initial tensile strength remaining. The susceptibility of E/N-DSC samples towards enzymatic degradation could be controlled by varying the degree of cross-linking of the samples. Ethylene oxide sterilization of E/N-DSC samples made the material more resistant against degradation compared with non-sterilized E/N-DSC samples. This may be explained by a decrease of the adsorption of bacterial collagenase onto the collagen owing to reaction of ethylene oxide with remaining free amine groups in the collagen matrix.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Olde Damink
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Dijkstra
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: van Luyn
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: van Wachem
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nieuwenhuis
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feijen
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003013:Clostridium / Q000201:enzymology; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D017364:Collagenases / Q000378:metabolism*; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D005022:Ethyldimethylaminopropyl Carbodiimide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D005027:Ethylene Oxide / Q000737:chemistry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012756:Sheep; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism; D012995:Solubility; D013242:Sterilization; D013388:Succinimides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D013388:Succinimides; D014867:Water; D003094:Collagen; D017364:Collagenases; D005027:Ethylene Oxide; C001426:N-hydroxysuccinimide; D005022:Ethyldimethylaminopropyl Carbodiimide