ABSTRACT
Collagen is an abundant structural protein forming one quarter or more of the body weight in all animals. In humans, collagen comprises one-third of the total protein, accounts for three-quarters of the dry weight of skin and is the most commonly occurring component of the extracellular matrix. Collagen is comprised of three parallel polypeptide strands in a left-handed, polyproline II-type helical conformation coil about each other which forms a right-handed triple helix. A rigid structure makes collagen susceptible to only a limited number of proteases which can decompose collagen. The degradation mechanism of collagen by matrix metalloproteases has been extensively investigated, and preliminary measurements have been carried out on the activation energy of the catalysis. Collageanse production from other microorganisms has been in a medium rich of proteins most of which lack any carbohydrate supplementation. Collagenases are used for treatment of various conditions like Peyronies disease, Dupytrens disease, glaucoma, burns, and wounds.
