Assessment of the denaturation of collagen protein concentrates using different techniques

The use of collagen and gelatin in the field of regenerative medicine is widely extended. However, most of the studies in this topic are focused on the scaffolds' properties, but only a few are related to the properties of the raw material used. The raw material analysis not only consists of a study of the composition, but also of the denaturation degree that can influence the processing and properties of the structure of the scaffold. Thus, the denaturation degree analysis of different collagen proteins was performed and assessed by the comparison of four different methods: differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectra and sulfhydryls content analysis. DSC measurements put forward a glass transition between 88°C and 95°C as well as from the FTIR measurements; the characteristic peaks for proteins are evidenced. However, from the sulfur content, only a small proportion of free sulfhydryls are present with respect to their total amount. In addition, CD spectra allow to estimate the secondary structure of the protein by the analysis of the α-helix and β-strand and also quantify the denaturation degree with the 'positive/negative ratio' (RPN) from the CD profiles, obtaining values in the range between 25% and 100%.