The Influence of Simple Phenols on Collagen Type I Fibrillogenesis in vitro

The influence of phenolic compounds with different numbers of hydroxy groups (phenol, pyrocatechol, resorcinol, and pyrogallol) on the kinetics of in vitro fibrillogenesis of collagen and on fibril structure has been studied. It has been shown that these phenols accelerate fibril formation mainly by shortening the lag phase, presumably facilitating the formation of collagen dimers and their subsequent association to linear aggregates. The accelerating activity of phenols is proportional to the number of hydroxy groups in the molecule. It increases in the series: phenol < resorcinol < pyrogallol. Therefore, the ability of phenols to accelerate fibril formation is likely to stem from the formation of hydrogen bonds with amino-acid residues in collagen chains. The hydrogen bonds may stabilize the structure of the intermediates, facilitating their interaction during fibrillogenesis.