Electrophoretic analysis of type I collagen from bovine Achilles tendon: comparison between the extracted raw material and the freeze-dried product.

The present study was aimed at verifying if the freeze-drying process has any effect on the polypeptide composition of the collagen extracted from bovine Achilles tendon in an acetic acid gelified form. Data from our laboratories showed that the freeze-drying process renders the collagen gel essentially insoluble; under these conditions the collagen sample can no longer be analyzed by gel electrphoresis. We found that treatment of the sample with pepsin in acid environment, followed by precipitation with ammonium sulphate yields an insoluble fraction that is susceptible of being analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The The electrophoresis, run under standard conditions, shows that six major subunits, corresponding to alpha, beta and gamma polypeptides, can be revealed in the sample treated in this way. So the freeze-dried collagen exhibits a polypeptidic composition that is basically identical to that shown by the collagen gel, with regard to the fraction precipitated with ammonium sulphate. Otherwise the pattern of the enzymatic hydrolysis was investigated by measuring the hydroxyproline content, and so the collagen content using the 7.46 conversion factor from hydroxyproline to the scleroprotein collagen, in the various steps of the hydrolysis itself: the analytical results showed no differences between the freeze-dried collagen and the gelified form; this confirms that the lyophilization process does not alter the polypeptidic composition of the collagen in any way.