[Effect of temperature on the aggregation behavior of collagen solution by two-dimensional synchronous fluorescence...

The synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy and two dimensional correlation analysis method were applied to study the aggregation behavior of acid-soluble collagen solutions (0.2, 0.4 and 1.6 mg x mL(-1)) during the heating process of 10-70 degrees C. It was found that the fluorescence excited at 292 and 282 nm (delta lamda=9 nm) belongs to the tyrosine (Tyr) residues which participate in forming hydrogen bonds or not, respectively. The two dimensional correlation analysis with the temperature varying showed that with the temperature increased (10-30 degrees C) hydrogen bonds among collagen molecular with Tyr residues formed in the 0.2 mg x mL(-1) collagen solution, while the higher aggregations of collagen molecular and hydrophobic micro-domains appeared in the 0.4 and 1.6 mg x mL(-1) collagen solutions. With approaching the denatured temperature of collagen (36-38 degrees C), the hydrophobic micro-domain and aggregates seemed to be broken in the 0.4 and 1.6 mg x mL(-1) collagen solutions, however the hydrogen bonds in the 0.2 mg x mL(-1) were stable. Above the denaturation temperature of collagen, the triple-helix structure of collagen molecular in solution of each concentration tended to be loose. In the heating process of 45-70 degrees C, this trend was more obvious.