Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Preparation of 3D Collagen Gels and Microchannels for the Study of 3D Interactions In Vivo
Published on: May 9, 2016
Characterization of type I collagen gels modified by glycation
Megan E Francis-Sedlak1, Shiri Uriel, Jeffery C Larson
1Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Science and Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL 6063, USA. franmeg@iit.edu
Abstract:
Chronic exposure to reducing sugars due to diabetes, aging, and diet can permanently modify extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. This non-enzymatic glycosylation, or glycation, can lead to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) and crosslinking of the ECM. This study investigates the effects of glycation on the properties of type I collagen gels. Incubation with glucose-6-phopshate (G6P), a reducing sugar that exhibits similar but more rapid glycation than glucose, modified the biological and mechanical properties of collagen gels. Measures of AGE formation that correlate with increased complications in people with diabetes, including collagen autofluorescence, crosslinking, and resistance to proteolytic degradation, increased with G6P concentration. Rheology studies showed that AGE crosslinking increased the shear storage and loss moduli of type I collagen gels. Fibroblasts cultured on glycated collagen gels proliferated more rapidly than on unmodified gels, but glycated collagen decreased fibroblast invasion. These results show that incubation of type I collagen gels with G6P increases clinically relevant measures of AGE formation and that these changes altered cellular interactions. These gels could be used as in vitro models to study ECM changes that occur in diabetes and aging.
Related Concept Videos
Glycosaminoglycans
GAGS are found in the extracellular matrix of vertebrates, invertebrates, and bacteria. Due to their polar nature they attract water, and serve as excellent lubricants or shock absorbers in an animal body.
Hyaluronic...
Fibril-associated Collagen
For example, the type II collagen fibrils in cartilage have covalently bound type IX fibril-associated collagens at regular intervals. Other types of fibril-associated collagens are...
Proteoglycans
Type IV Collagen of Basal Lamina
A type IV collagen molecule has six alpha chains which can exist in...

