J. Lane, P. Dehm, D. Prockop
Jun 29, 1971
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0
Influential Citations
66
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Biochimica et biophysica acta
Abstract
Abstract Previous studies demonstrated that the proline analogue azetidine-2-carboxylic acid was incorporated in collagen synthesized in vitro and that the collagen containing the analogue was extruded from cells at a decreased rate. In the present study azetidine-2-carboxylic acid was administered for a 5-day period to rapidly growing chick embryos and it was found that the analogue arrested the accumulation of collagen in the embryos. The effect on collagen accumulation was always more marked than any effect on weight or non-collagen proteins and there was no histological evidence of non-specific toxicity. The decrease in collagen content was accompanied by a marked increase in the fragility of the embryos. Although an increase in the rate of collagen degradation was not completely excluded, the results suggested that the decrease in collagen content of the embryos can be explained by the intracellular synthesis of a collagen which contains the analogue and which cannot be extruded at a normal rate. After the cells have accumulated a large pool of analogue-containing collagen, they reach a new steady state in which both the rate of collagen synthesis and extrusion are decreased.