Recombinant DNA and collagen research. Is amino acid sequencing obsolete? Can we study diseases involving collagen by analysis of the genes?
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abstract
Over the past several years, more and more investigators have become convinced that collagen is now a prime target for study with the new technologies of recombinant DNA. There are a variety of reasons for this conviction. They include the preeminent status of collagen as the major structural protein of higher organisms, its critical roles in both development and evolution, and the fact that the synthesis of collagen appears to be an intrinsic function of most eukaryotic cells in culture. Among the most important reasons, however, is that our information about the chemistry and biochemistry of collagen has now reached a high level of sophistication, and we now have a large fund of basic chemical and biological information which will be invaluable for understanding the structure and regulation of its genes. What are the consequences of the various achievements, and of recombinant DNA technologies in general, for future research on collagen? The new technologies have developed and been refined so rapidly that it is difficult to predict all their potential applications, but they clearly will have a major impact on at least three areas of collagen research: The regulation of collagen synthesis; the structure of procollagens and related proteins; and the study of diseases involving collagen.
