[Biochemistry of collagen and the locomoter apparatus (Hereditary connective tissue diseases and rheumatic diseases. Part I].

The elementary collagen molecule consists of three chains rolled into a spiral and ending in nonhelical telopeptides. In cutaneous collagen, there are two types of chains, in cartilaginous collagen there is only one. In the synthesis, several enzymes play successive parts: proline hydroxylase, lysine hydroxylase, then pro-collagen peptidase and finally, lysine oxidase and hydroxylysine oxidase; their coordinated actions ultimately allow the chains to establish the transverse intra and intermolecular links which give the collagen fiber its cohesion. The type and number of these transverse links vary from one tissue to another. Specific collagenases make collagen degradation possible.