Summary
Collagen from an inferior invertebrate, namely from the sea anemoneActinia equina L., appears to consist of three identical subunits (α-chains). New evidence for this situation is reported on the basis of preparative-scale experiments.
No fractionation of sea anemone collagen was obtained by CM-cellulose chromatography which is the method of choice for the isolation of vertebrate collagen subunits. On the other hand, theα-component (mol. wt., 95.000) could be isolated by gel chromatography. It was homogenous when investigated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate) and by ion exchange chromatography on CM-cellulose. The amino acid composition of theα-component was identical with that of unfractionated collagen.
Divergent evolution of the collagen molecule appears likely since vertebrate collagen molecules are made up of differentα-chain types.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Blumenfeld, O. O., Gallop, P. M.: Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.)56, 1260 (1966).
Kefalides, N. A.: Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun.45, 226 (1971).
Laemmli, U. K.: Nature (Lond.)227, 680 (1970).
Miller, E. J., Epstein, F. H., Piez, K. A.: Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun.42, 1024 (1971).
Miller, E. J., Matukas, V. J.: Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.)64, 1264 (1969).
Müller, P. K., McGoodwin, E., Martin, G. R.: Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun.44, 110 (1971).
Nordwig, A., Hayduk, U.: J. molec. Biol.26, 351 (1967).
Nordwig, A., Hayduk, U.: J. molec. Biol.44, 161 (1969).
Nordwig, A., Hayduk, U., Gerisch, G.: Hoppe-Seylers Z. physiol. Chem.350, 245 (1969).
Nordwig, A., Rogall, E., Hayduk, U.: The isolation and characterisation of collagen from three invertebrate tissues. In: Chemistry and molecular biology of the intercellular matrix, vol. 1. E. A. Balazs, editor, p. 27. London-NewYork: Academic Press 1970.
Piez, K. A., Eigner, E. A., Lewis, M. S.: Biochemistry2, 58 (1963).
Pikkarainen, J., Kulonen, E.: Scand. J. clin. Lab. Invest., Suppl. 95, 40 (1967).
Traub, W., Piez, K. A.: Advanc. Protein Chem.25, 243 (1971).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nordwig, A., Nowack, H. & Hieber-Rogall, E. Sea anemone collagen: Further evidence for the existence of only oneα-chain type. J Mol Evol 2, 175–180 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01653997
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01653997