Digestion of native collagen, denatured collagen, and collagen fragments by extracts of rat liver lysosomes

Extracts of highly purified lysosomes from rat liver were examined for their ability to degrade native collagen and thermally denatured collagen at pH values between 3.5 and 7.0. After a 24-h digestion at 36 degrees with the lysosomal extract at a pH of 5.5 or lower (collagen/lysosomal protein; 2/1 or 8/1), both native and denatured collagen were degraded to an extent equivalent to 60 to 70% of that observed upon total acid hydrolysis in 6 N HCl as measured by the ninhydrin reaction (570 nm). At a pH of 6.0, native collagen and denatured collagen were degraded by the mixture of lysosomal proteinases to 11% and 40% of total acid hydrolysis, respectively. At pH 6.5 AND 7.0, the corresponding values were 3% versus 33% and 0.3% versus 11%, respectively. Fragments of collagen (TCA and TCB) are produced when mammalian collagenase degrades native collagen at 25 degrees. These fragments were degraded by the lysosomal extract at 36 degrees to an extent equivalent to 28% and 8% of total acid hydrolysis at pH 6.5 and 7.0, respectively. The experiments at pH 6.5 and 7.0 were done using a collagen/lysosomal protein ratio of 2/1. At pH 5.0 (a pH which is found within secondary lysosomes), the lysosomal extracts degraded collagen to a mixture of free amino acids and small peptides. Amino acid analysis established that approximately 30% of the amino acid residues of the collagen appeared in the lysosomal hydrolysate as free amino acids. Hydroxyproline and perhaps hydroxylysine were the only amino acids found in collagen which did not appear at least to some extent as the free amino acid in this hydrolysate.