Essential modification of the Sircol Collagen Assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions

Collagen contains the unique imino acid hydroxyproline (HyPro), which is involved in the stabilization of this triple helical molecule. The concentration of HyPro is customarily used to calculate the total collagen content in a cell culture environment and in acid hydrolysates of normal and pathophy...

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Main Authors: Lareu, Ricky R., Zeugolis, D., Abu-Rub, M., Pandit, A., Raghunath, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier BV 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18496
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author Lareu, Ricky R.
Zeugolis, D.
Abu-Rub, M.
Pandit, A.
Raghunath, M.
author_facet Lareu, Ricky R.
Zeugolis, D.
Abu-Rub, M.
Pandit, A.
Raghunath, M.
author_sort Lareu, Ricky R.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Collagen contains the unique imino acid hydroxyproline (HyPro), which is involved in the stabilization of this triple helical molecule. The concentration of HyPro is customarily used to calculate the total collagen content in a cell culture environment and in acid hydrolysates of normal and pathophysiological tissues. Radiolabelling, chromatographic and calorimetric assays have been developed over the years for the accurate determination of collagen content through HyPro estimation. Recently, the Sircol Collagen Assay (SCA) has been almost exclusively adopted as the fastest and simplest colorimetric method for the determination of collagen concentration in complex protein solutions. We show here that the colorimetric SCA, which is based on the binding of Sirius red (SR) to collagen, is flawed by interference of non-collagenous proteins (e.g. serum). In fact, we demonstrate that SCA in cell culture systems and tissue hydrolysates results in a dramatic overestimation of collagen content ranging from 3- to 24-fold. In order to rescue this otherwise very practical assay, we introduce a simple purification procedure that allows the removal of interfering non-collagenous proteins from culture media and tissue samples so that accurate measurements with SCA are now possible.
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publishDate 2010
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-184962017-09-13T13:43:52Z Essential modification of the Sircol Collagen Assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions Lareu, Ricky R. Zeugolis, D. Abu-Rub, M. Pandit, A. Raghunath, M. Ultrafiltration Hydroxyproline assay Collagen content Sircol assay Sirius red Collagen contains the unique imino acid hydroxyproline (HyPro), which is involved in the stabilization of this triple helical molecule. The concentration of HyPro is customarily used to calculate the total collagen content in a cell culture environment and in acid hydrolysates of normal and pathophysiological tissues. Radiolabelling, chromatographic and calorimetric assays have been developed over the years for the accurate determination of collagen content through HyPro estimation. Recently, the Sircol Collagen Assay (SCA) has been almost exclusively adopted as the fastest and simplest colorimetric method for the determination of collagen concentration in complex protein solutions. We show here that the colorimetric SCA, which is based on the binding of Sirius red (SR) to collagen, is flawed by interference of non-collagenous proteins (e.g. serum). In fact, we demonstrate that SCA in cell culture systems and tissue hydrolysates results in a dramatic overestimation of collagen content ranging from 3- to 24-fold. In order to rescue this otherwise very practical assay, we introduce a simple purification procedure that allows the removal of interfering non-collagenous proteins from culture media and tissue samples so that accurate measurements with SCA are now possible. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18496 10.1016/j.actbio.2010.02.004 Elsevier BV restricted
spellingShingle Ultrafiltration
Hydroxyproline assay
Collagen content
Sircol assay
Sirius red
Lareu, Ricky R.
Zeugolis, D.
Abu-Rub, M.
Pandit, A.
Raghunath, M.
Essential modification of the Sircol Collagen Assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions
title Essential modification of the Sircol Collagen Assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions
title_full Essential modification of the Sircol Collagen Assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions
title_fullStr Essential modification of the Sircol Collagen Assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions
title_full_unstemmed Essential modification of the Sircol Collagen Assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions
title_short Essential modification of the Sircol Collagen Assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions
title_sort essential modification of the sircol collagen assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions
topic Ultrafiltration
Hydroxyproline assay
Collagen content
Sircol assay
Sirius red
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18496