The effect of gamma-irradiation on soluble collagen.

1. A study was made of the effect of gamma-irradiation on the sub-unit composition, as well as the conformational changes taking place in cooled solutions of thermally denatured neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble collagen. 2. The increase in negative rotation and viscosity at 15 degrees for irradiated and thermally denatured collagen solutions becomes less as the irradiation dose is increased. 3. The initial effect of gamma-irradiation is the depolymerization of the dimers found in both neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble collagen. 4. The principal effect of gamma-irradiation up to 10 Mrads is the fission of peptide bonds, yielding crystalline irradiation-resistant portions of the molecule incapable of associating to the native structure. 5. The effects of gamma-irradiation on both neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble collagen are very similar and bear a close resemblance to the effects induced by ultraviolet irradiation.