The collagenous matrix of bovine predentine.

Predentine obtained from bovine teeth by microdissection was solubilized by cyanogen bromide cleavage. The electrophoretic mobility of the resultant peptides was established on polyacrylamide gel and the amino acid composition of several peptides was determined. The data clearly indicated that this collagen is entirely of the Type I genetic species. No differences were detected between the predentine and dentine collagens except that the mature tissue was more highly crosslinked. Nevertheless the amount of stable cross-link formed in the predentine was higher than expected for an immature tissue.