Abstract
The meridional X-ray diffraction pattern of wet rat tail tendon contains information about the one-dimensional structure, or axial projection of electron density distribution of the type I collagen fibril. Using synchrotron radiation we have determined the intensities of the first 50 meridional X-ray diffraction reflections. The approach of isomorphous addition with reagents, selected using criteria of chemical reactivity, which label at fewer sites than the stains used in previous studies was applied to phase these 50 reflections to produce a one-dimensional electron density distribution map of a single D-repeat of the collagen fibril. This method is not model-dependent and thus constitutes the first unambiguous determination of the meridional phases of type I collagen.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 685-694 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Molecular Biology |
Volume | 205 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 20 Feb 1989 |
Funding
We are grateful to Mr K. C. Duff for technical assistance with this project and to Dr R. J. Greenall, Dr C. Nave and Dr E. Towns of the SERC Daresbury laboratory for help with data collection. This project was completed under an SRS grant from the SERC. One of us (T.J.W.) is supported by an SERC studentship.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology