鯨コラーゲンの組織の違いによる比較研究

抄録

In a previous paper, it was reported that pepsin-treated neutral salt soluble collagen, obtained from the nose cartilage of sperm whale, exhibits some unusual properties, particularly the high contents of hydroxylysine and amide nitrogen and the existence of glucuronic acid. In order to investigate whether its unusual properties are characteristic of sperm whale collagen or not, some collagens were isolated from other tissues of the sperm whale, such as hide, brain-oil bag, and intermuscular connective tissue (tendinous septa) and characterized with respects to chemical composition and some physical properties. As the major parts of these collagens are insoluble in neutral salt and dilute acid, soluble collagen was obtained, by pepsin treatment.
The intrinsic viscosity of these collagens lies in the range of 18 and 20 dl/g and the specific optical rotation in the range of -390° and -434°. Furthermore, the values of denaturation temperature lie in the range of 31.7 and 33.8°C, which are comparable to that of warm-water fish. The amino acid composition and content of carbohydrates in these collagens are very similar to each other and are also comparable to those of vertebrate collagen. These results suggest that there is no substantial difference among collagens obtained from these three different tissues. However, the contents of hydroxylysine, amide nitrogen, and carbohydrates from these collagens were considerably lower those of nose cartilage collagen and glucuronic acid could not be found in any of the collagens reported here. The difference in the chemical composition of the collagens obtained from different tissues of a single species is considered due to the particular function of each tissue.