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Updated: Dec 30, 2025

In vitro Synthesis of Native, Fibrous Long Spacing and Segmental Long Spacing Collagen
Published on: September 20, 2012
A Lateral Salt Bridge for the Specific Assembly of an ABC-Type Collagen Heterotrimer
Nina B Hentzen1, Valdrin Islami1, Martin Köhler1
1Laboratory of Organic Chemistry , ETH Zurich , D-CHAB, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3 , 8093 , Zurich , Switzerland.
Abstract:
Nature uses salt bridges to control the folding and stability of many proteins, including collagen, the key structural protein in mammals. Here, we present an interstrand salt bridge between (4S)-aminoproline (Amp) and aspartic acid (Asp) that directs the composition and register-specific assembly of synthetic collagen heterotrimers. This Amp-Asp salt bridge allowed for the rational design of strands that fold into A2B and ABC-type heterotrimers with only three salt bridges per triple helix. Native ESI-MS and NMR spectroscopic analyses corroborated the specific assembly of the ABC heterotrimer.
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