Chain alignment of collagen I deciphered using computationally designed heterotrimers

The most abundant member of the collagen protein family, collagen I (also known as type I collagen; COL1), is composed of one unique (chain B) and two similar (chain A) polypeptides that self-assemble with one amino acid offset into a heterotrimeric triple helix. Given the offset, chain B can occupy either the leading (BAA), middle (ABA) or trailing (AAB) position of the triple helix, yielding three isomeric biomacromolecules with different protein recognition properties. Despite five decades of intensive research, there is no consensus on the position of chain B in COL1. Here, three triple-helical heterotrimers that each contain a putative von Willebrand factor (VWF) and discoidin domain receptor (DDR) recognition sequence from COL1 were designed with chain B permutated in all three positions. AAB demonstrated a strong preference for both VWF and DDR, and also induced higher levels of cellular DDR phosphorylation. Thus, we resolve this long-standing mystery and show that COL1 adopts an AAB register. Designed heterotrimers of collagen I, locked in three possible chain registers, enable structural and functional characterization of each permutation, leading to identification of the AAB heterotrimer as the most active and therefore likely to occur biologically.