Poster abstracts
Poster number 30 submitted by Sahaana Shanker
Nanoscale analysis of collagen IV network formation in-vitro
Sahaana Shanker (College of Arts and Sciences), Alexa Hayes (College of Arts and Sciences), Dr. Gunjan Agarwal (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)
Abstract:
Collagen IV is the major constituent of basement membranes which are specialized structures at the basal surfaces of endothelial and epithelial cells and surrounding muscle, fat, and myelinating cells [1]. The goal of this study is to understand the effect of in-vitro conditions on the morphology of collagen IV at the single molecular level and in networks. Purified Col IV from bovine lens capsule and purified Col IV from mouse EHS tumor were utilized. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used as a high resolution microscopy technique to ascertain the morphology of Col IV at two different temperature and buffer conditions. Our results indicated that, upon increasing the concentration of Col IV, there is increased network formation with little influence of temperature. However, the morphology of Col IV is significantly affected by the molarity of the buffer. Freeze thaw cycles resulted in denaturing of Col IV triple helix, which was especially prominent for mouse EHS tumor collagen. This research is important in understanding the in-vitro network formation of Col IV in order to examine the effect of different mutations or cell surface receptors. Further research along these directions can enable improved therapeutic developments for diseases associated with Col IV.
References:
M. Mao, M. Alavi, C. Labelle-Dumais, D.B. Gould, Type IV Collagens and Basement Mebrane Diseases: Cell Biology and Pathogenic Mechanisms, Curr. Top. Membr. (2015). Doi:10.1016/bs.ctm.2015.09.002.
Keywords: Collagen IV, AFM, ECM