Type V collagen is increased during rabbit medial collateral ligament healing

Abstract

To understand the reparative process of medial collateral ligament (MCL), fibrillar collagen and their relative ratios in healing MCL with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction were analyzed. Skeletally mature New Zealand white rabbits were subjected to a mop-end tear of MCL without repair with ACL reconstruction. Rabbits were killed 6 and 52 weeks after injury. Ligamentous tissues from the injury site and sham controls were soaked in 0.5 M acetic acid for 24 h, minced, and treated with pepsin to solubilize collagen. Pepsin solubilized about 80% of the total collagen as determined by hydroxyproline analysis of the pepsin residues. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of the solubilized collagen revealed presence of fibrillar collagen types I, III, and V. Densitometric scanning of the protein bands corresponding to types I, III, and V collagen indicated that in sham controls types III and V collagen represented about 8% and 12%, respectively, of the type I collagen whereas the healed MCL ligaments at 6 weeks showed significant increase in type III and V collagen to about 19% and 24%, respectively. By 52 weeks type III collagen in the healed MCL had returned to that of sham controls while type V collagen remained elevated at approximately 18%. These data suggest that presence of type V collagen in high concentration in healing ligaments may have an influence on collagen fibril diameters seen in healed ligament and should be included in the analysis when evaluating ligament healing.

Age-related changes in structure and extracellular matrix protein expression levels in rat tendons

“…Contrary to the findings of Dressler et al (2002), in the present study, type V collagen was readily detectable in tendons of young rats and mRNA expression was decreased in old rats, although the decrease was less pronounced than the decrease of type I collagen mRNA expression in tendons of old rats. In a separate study, increased expression of type V collagen correlated with accumulation of the smaller diameter collagen fibrils after ligament injury (Niyibizi et al 2000), and a study by Lu et al (2011) showed that collagen type V expression was increased in injured tendons. Thus, understanding of the role of type V collagen in tendon and ligament function and its role in aging and injured tendons warrants further evaluation.…”

Impact of Prolapse Meshes on the Metabolism of Vaginal Extracellular Matrix in Rhesus Macaque

“…After protein extraction, the salt insoluble tissue pellets were used to determine the ratio of collagen subtypes III/I 11,12 . Following pepsin digestion, samples were isolated on 6% gels by interrupted sodium-dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE).…”

Gene intervention in ligament and tendon: current status, challenges, future directions

“…Some of the molecules such as collagen type V and decorin have been implicated in collagen fibrillogenesis. 2,[16][17][18] Electron microscopic analysis of ligaments has shown a bimodal distribution of collagen fibril diameters in normal rabbit medial collateral ligaments. 19 Histologically, collagen in ligament and tendon displays a crimp pattern, which refers to a regular, wavy pattern of the matrix when viewed in unloaded conditions.…”