Rapid fractionation of collagen chains and peptides by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A strategy was developed, using a Pharmacia Fast Protein Liquid chromatography (FPLC) system, for the rapid preparation of the alpha-chains, cyanogen bromide peptides and tryptic peptides of type I collagen obtained from tissues and cultured fibroblasts. Collagen alpha-chains were prepared using a C18 PEP-RPC reverse-phase column and volatile solvents. Preliminary Superose 6 gel permeation chromatography was used to separate the crosslinked beta- and gamma-chains from the alpha-chains of tissue collagen samples. A Mono S cation-exchange column was used to resolve all of the major type I collagen cyanogen bromide peptides including the alpha 1(I)CB7 and CB8 peptides, which have not been well resolved by previously published methods. Collagen tryptic peptides were chromatographed on the PEP-RPC reverse-phase column.