MASER M D, RICE R V
J Cell Biol. 1963 Sep;18(3):569-77. doi: 10.1083/jcb.18.3.569.
When soluble earthworm cuticle collagen molecules are subjected to the shearing forces of a flow birefringence instrument, they are broken into particles approximately half the original size. The broken particles resemble vertebrate tropocollagen molecules in their hydrodynamic properties, in levorotatory powers, and in their appearance in the electron microscope. Most significantly, the broken earthworm particles form ordered aggregates similar to the segmented-long-spacing aggregations formed by vertebrate tropocollagen. These phenomena are explained by the suggestion that earthworm collagen molecules are dimers of tropocollagen-like particles. On this basis, an explanation is presented for the lack of striations in the gross collagen fibrils of earthworm cuticle.
当可溶性蚯蚓表皮胶原分子受到流动双折射仪的剪切力作用时,它们会断裂成大小约为原来一半的颗粒。这些破碎颗粒在流体动力学性质、左旋光性以及电子显微镜下的外观方面类似于脊椎动物的原胶原分子。最显著的是,破碎的蚯蚓颗粒形成了与脊椎动物原胶原形成的分段长间距聚集体相似的有序聚集体。这些现象可通过以下观点来解释:蚯蚓胶原分子是类原胶原颗粒的二聚体。在此基础上,对蚯蚓表皮粗大胶原纤维中缺乏条纹的现象给出了解释。