Why collagen lasts | MIT Technology Review

Essentially the most plentiful protein in animals, collagen is fibrous, constructed from lengthy strands of protein that intertwine to kind a troublesome triple helix. “Collagen is the scaffold that holds us collectively,” says chemistry professor Ron Raines, the examine’s senior writer. 

Peptide bonds are fashioned between a carbon atom from one amino acid and a nitrogen atom of the adjoining amino acid. The carbon atom additionally kinds a double bond with an oxygen atom, making a molecular construction referred to as a carbonyl group. This carbonyl oxygen has a pair of electrons that don’t kind bonds with every other atoms however will be shared with the carbonyl group of a neighboring peptide bond.

As a result of this pair of electrons is being inserted into these peptide bonds, water molecules can’t additionally get into the construction to disrupt the bond.

“Collagen is all triple helices, from one finish to the opposite,” Raines says. “There’s no weak hyperlink, and that’s why I feel it has survived.