The chemistry of the collagen cross-links. The characterization of fraction C, a possible artifact produced during the reduction of collagen fibres with borohydride.

The present paper describes the isolation and identification of a major radioactive component of borotritide-reduced collagen, previously designated Fraction C. The derived structure for the compound confirms that it is identical with the ;post-histidine' component described by Tanzer et al. (1973) and given the trivial name histidino-hydroxymerodesmosine. Detailed studies of the effects of acid pH on the formation of Fraction C after borohydride reduction demonstrated the apparent lability of the non-reduced form, thus confirming our previous findings (Bailey & Lister, 1968). Inhibition of the formation of this component by the acid treatment appears to be due to protonation of the histidine imidazole group. Since the only new component formed on reduction of the acid-treated fibres was the reduced aldol condensation product, these results indicate that neither the histidine nor the hydroxylysine residues can be involved in covalent linkage with the aldol condensation product in the native fibre. It is suggested therefore that the proposed non-reduced aldimine form of Fraction C does not exist as an intermolecular cross-link in vivo. Thus the presence of histidino-hydroxymerodesmosine as a tetrafunctional cross-link in reduced collagen fibres is a result of a base-catalysed reaction promoted by the borohydride-reduction procedure and this component must therefore be considered as an artifact.