The head cartilage of cephalopods II. Ultrastructure of isolated native collagen fibrils and of polymeric aggregates obtained in Vitro: Comparison with the cartilage of mammals

Abstract

Native collagen fibrils were isolated from cephalopod head cartilage and mammal hyaline cartilage. The analysis with TEM after positive and negative staining demonstrated that the fibrils have a periodic structure similar to that of fibrillar type I collagen of mammals. The banding pattern of polymeric forms (SLS, FLS) obtained in vitro from squid cartilage collagen was remarkably different from the analogous forms of mammal collagen types I and II.