title: Collagen fragments modulate innate immunity.
abstract: Activation of the innate immune response in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis leads to the production of proinflammatory cytokines that can promote collagenolysis. While a number of studies suggest that inflammation plays a major role in initiating collagen degradation, the effect of collagen and collagen-degradation fragments on the inflammatory response is not well understood. We now demonstrate that different collagen fragments can either augment or suppress IL-1beta production from human peripheral-blood monocytes. These data have wide-ranging implications for how amino acid variation in collagen affects disease and suggest that collagen degradation leads to the production of peptides that can modulate inflammation.
authors.affiliation: The Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Amelia H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Elazer R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Edelman
authors.forename: Collin M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Stultz
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004357:Drug Synergism; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000187:drug effects*; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009000:Monocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D003094:Collagen