Water-soluble collagen

The two most common types of plugs currently in use are collagen and silicone (Table 14-3). The water-soluble collagen rods are temporary, dissolving 4 to 7 days after insertion. Silicone plugs are more permanent but can be removed when necessary. 

Contact angle techniques used to evaluate thin films of water-soluble collagen, with care to avoid denaturing eflFects, gave a critical surface tension approaching 40 dynes/cm (8). An anomalous nonwettability by some of the low surface-tension, dispersion-force-only liquids was evident, and this was attributed to organized water adsorbed at the surface of... 

Nezu, T. and Winnik, F.M. (2000) Interadion of water-soluble collagen with poly(acrylic acid). Biomaterials. 21, 415-419. 

The cosmetics and skin performance sector is another application where nanofibres are emerging, offering instantaneous delivery nutrient mechanism to the skin. In this mechanism, the nanofibre membrane acts similar to woimd care but instead the nanofibres are usually water soluble or biodegradable and contain healthy nutrients for the skin. Revolution Fibres Ltd (New Zealand) has developed nutrient infused marine collagen nanofibres called ActiVLayr . This unique water soluble collagen nanofibres act as a carrier to deliver natural nutrients to the skin to improve performance of the skin. The active content can be modified and customized in order to target certain skin benefits [40]. 

The diversity in primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary stmctures of proteins means that few generalisations can be made concerning their chemical properties. Some fulfil stmctural roles, such as the collagens (found in bone) and keratin (found in claws and beaks), and are insoluble in all solvents. Others, such as albumins or globulins of plasma, are very soluble in water. Still others, which form part of membranes of cells, are partly hydrophilic ( water-loving , hence water-soluble) and partly lipophilic ( lipid-loving , hence fat-soluble). 

Recently, water-soluble protein fractions, isolated from extracts of bone matrix, were incorporated into a collagen matrix and shown to induce bone (67,68) and cartilage formation both in vitro and in vivo (69,70). In the latter studies, in the absence of the collajgen delivery system, the proteins were incapable of inducing cartilage formation in vivo when implanted intramuscularly into mice. The success of this approach appears to depend on delivering the active agents at an effective dose over an extended time period. 

The human lens is rich in ascorbate, which is required for normal collagen synthesis and acts as a water-soluble antioxidant, reacting rapidly with superoxide, hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals. However, ascorbic acid can undergo auto-oxidation and, at certain concentrations, can form hydroxyl radicals with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of light and riboflavin as described above (Delaye and Tardieu, 1983 Ueno et al., 1987). 

Fig. 2.4. Schematic model of the molecular polymorphism of acetylcholinesterase and cholinesterase [110][112a]. Open circles represent the globular (G) catalytic subunits. Disulfide bonds are indicated by S-S. The homomeric class exists as monomers (Gl), dimers (G2), and tetramers (G4) and can be subdivided into hydrophilic (water-soluble) and amphiphilic (membrane-bound) forms. The G2 amphiphilic forms of erythrocytes have a glycophospholipid anchor. The heteromeric class exists as amphiphilic G4 and as asymmetric forms (A) containing one to three tetramers. Thus, heteromeric G4 forms found in brain are anchored into a phospholipid membrane through a 20 kDa anchor. The asymmetric A12 forms have three hydrophilic G4 heads linked to a collagen tail via disulfide bonds.

Pharmacology Vitamin C, a water-soluble vitamin, is an essential vitamin in man however, its exact biological functions are not fully understood. It is essential for the formation and the maintenance of intercellular ground substance and collagen, for catecholamine biosynthesis, for synthesis of carnitine and steroids, for conversion of folic acid to folinic acid and for tyrosine metabolism. 

Finally, collagen can form a variety of collagen composites with other water-soluble materials. Ions, peptides, proteins, and polysaccharides can all be uniformly incorporated into a collagen matrix. The methods of composite formation include ionic and covalent bonding, entrapment, entanglement, and co-precipitation. A two-phase composite can be formed between collagen, ceramics, and synthetic polymers for specific biomedical applications. 

Ascorbic acid as a water-soluble vitamin (vitamin C) is an essential component in the human diet. As one of many anti-oxidants (vitamin E and 3-carotene are examples of fat-soluble anti-oxidants), ascorbic acid is required for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of the body. It is necessary to form collagen, an important protein used to make skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. 

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is a water-soluble vitamin but is not part of the B group. It is a metabolic requirement for all species but is a dietary requirement only for those that lack the enzyme for its synthesis (primates, guinea pigs, certain birds, fish). Therefore, it is not required in poultry diets. It is involved in the formation and maintenance of intercellular tissues having collagen or related substances as basal constituents. 

The current RDA for vitamin C is 60 mg/day for a healthy non-smoking adult, Vitamin C is a cofactor for several enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of collagen, neurotransmitters, carnitine (45), hydroxylation of cholesterol (to form bile acids). It is also an important water-soluble antioxidant, which scavenges most of the RS and acts as a coantioxidant by regenerating a-tocopheryl radicals (46). 

Enzymes, such as creatine kinase, have been grafted on to collagen films by using water soluble carbodiimides. Porcine intestinal collagen has been crosslinked with EDC in acetone to provide a remodelable scaffold. EDC crosslinking of collagen/elastin matrices is also used to prepare fiat scaffolds. ... 

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