A study of the structure of biological macromolecules

Thesis

This thesis describes a study of the structure of the Type I collagen molecule and fibril as they occur in a variety of tissues and, in particular, the role that this protein plays in the molecular basis of connective tissue disease.

The first three chapters are concerned with the background to this study. Chapter 1 is a review of connective tissue structure and function, whilst Chapters 2 and 3 explain the theory of the experimental techniques employed.

Chapter 4 discusses the relationship between the condition of the specimen and the quality of data obtained from it. A specimen preparation procedure which gives high resolution results is described. As a basis for later work the three-dimensional structure of human tendon collagen is derived for the first time, and compared to that of the intensively studied rat tail tendon.

Chapter 5 describes the use of x-ray fibre diffraction methods to detect molecular alteration by connective tissue disease. Two diseases are studied in this way, Osteogenesis Imperfecta and Fibrogenesis Imperfecta Ossium. The findings for the former are in agreement with recent biochemical work, whilst the results for the latter suggest that a thorough biophysical investigation could yield important structural insights.

In Chapter 6 the scope of the work is extended to include hard connective tissues. A study of the calcification system of fish and mammalian bone is reported.

Authors: Bradshaw, J; Bradshaw, Jeremy Peter

• Publication date: 1985
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Subjects: Diseases; Macromolecules; Connective tissues; Collagen; Molecular aspects; Structure