Type II collagen is the basis for
hyaline cartilage, including the articular cartilages at joint surfaces. It is formed by
homotrimer
thumbnail, 400px, Trimeric form of a TNF-α mutant
A homotrimer is a protein which is composed of three identical units of polypeptide.
Examples
* Hemagglutinin (influenza)
* Spike protein (coronavirus)
See also
* Protein trimer
In biochemi ...
s of
collagen, type II, alpha 1 chains.
It makes up 50% of all protein in
cartilage and 85–90% of collagen of articular cartilage.
Type II collagen is organised into
fibril
Fibrils (from the Latin ''fibra'') are structural biological materials found in nearly all living organisms. Not to be confused with fibers or filaments, fibrils tend to have diameters ranging from 10-100 nanometers (whereas fibers are micro ...
s. This fibrillar network of
collagen allows the cartilage to entrap the
proteoglycan aggregate, as well as providing tensile strength to the tissue. Oral administration of native type II collagen induces oral tolerance to pathological immune responses and may be useful in arthritis.
See also
*
Type I collagen
Type I collagen is the most abundant collagen of the human body. It forms large, eosinophilic fibers known as collagen fibers.
It is present in scar tissue, the end product when tissue heals by repair, as well as tendons, ligaments, the endomy ...
*
Collagen, type III, alpha 1
References
External links
*
Collagens
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