Prospects of Creating Collagen Substances Based on a Study of the Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Proteins of Hydrobiont Dermal Emulsions

Proteins of the collagen family were identified in the dermal emulsion of a freshwater fish, the African clary catfish (Clarias gariepinus). Acumulative assessment of their physicochemical properties gave reason to consider the emulsion obtained using the developed method as a source of functional biopolymers, particularly collagen proteins. The fractional composition, charge state, molecular mass, and the ability for hydrolysis by Clostridium histolytica collagenase were experimentally determined. Evaluation of the amino-acid composition allowed the analogy and features of collagen proteins of animal and fish origin to be identified. The studied emulsions were shown to contain negatively charged proteins with molecular masses >100 kDa, the fractions of which contained predominantly collagen. The results supported the assumption that a significant part of the hydrobiont collagen was type I collagen, which made it possible to consider them in the future as a basis for various substances and served as a starting point for understanding the physicochemical functioning essentials and assessing the possibility of using them in pharmaceutical technologies.