DIFFERENCES IN THE MICROFIBRILLAR ARRANGEMENT OF COLLAGEN FIBRILS - DISTRIBUTION AND POSSIBLE SIGNIFICANCE

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 13  (2) , 135-143
Abstract
Microfibrillar arrangement of collagen fibrils was studied on replicas of freeze-fractured specimens and on thin sections of specimens treated with a 4.0 M guanidinium chloride solution. Human, ox and rat tissue were studied. Collagen fibrils with straight arrangement of their microfibrils usually have a variable diameter and correspond in their distribution to genetic type I and type II collagens. Collagen fibrils with helicoidal arrangement of their microfibrils present a relatively small and uniform diameter and show a tissue distribution similar to that of the genetic type III collagen. The corneal stroma, although predominantly composed of type I collagen, displays collagen fibrils with a helicoidal microfibrillar arrangement, and small and uniform diameter. This exception may be due to the function of the collagen of the corneal stroma. A close correlation between the different microfibrillar patterns of the collagen fibrils and their function in these anatomical sites is evident.