Cleavage of the carboxy-terminal cross-linking region of type I collagen by proteolytic activity from cultured porcine gingival explants.

Medium conditioned by the culture of porcine gingival explants was shown to contain, in addition to collagenase, proteolytic activity capable of releasing small fragments, devoid of hydroxyproline but containing hydroxynorleucine, from reduced (tritiated) type I collagen in solution at neutral pH. Quantitative comparison of this effect with that of cathepsin D, at pH 4, revealed that the fragments were derived at least in part from the carboxy-terminal, extra-helical portion of the collagen alpha 1-chains. Incubation of concentrated conditioned medium with fibrillar acetic acid-insoluble collagen resulted in the solubilization of the TC 3/4 and TC 1/4 fragments characteristic of the action of collagenase. However, alpha 1-chain fragments isolated from the latter were found to lack the antigenic determinant normally present on the amino-terminal side of the (hydroxy-)lysine residue which is known to be involved in intermolecular cross-linking. It is therefore suggested that the proteolytic activity described above was involved in the solubilization process. Both the release of low molecular fragments from soluble collagen and the solubilization effect were abolished by ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid.