Preparation of ready-to-use, storable and reconstituted type I collagen from rat tail tendon for tissue engineering applications

• Published in: Nature protocols Vol. 1; no. 6; pp. 2753 - 2758
• Main Authors: Doillon, Charles J, Mantovani, Diego, Rajan, Navneeta, Habermehl, Jason, Coté, Marie-France
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 01.01.2007
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Acids; Animals; Collagen; Collagen Type I - isolation & purification; Collagenases; Extracellular matrix; Investigations; Protocol; Rats; Reproducibility; Research centers; Tail; Tendons; Tendons - chemistry; Thin films; Tissue Engineering; Canada; Quebec City Quebec Canada; Quebec Canada
• ISSN: 1754-2189; 1750-2799
• DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2006.430

Collagen is a widely investigated extracellular matrix material with extensive potentials in the field of tissue engineering. This protocol describes a method to prepare reconstituted collagen that can be ready-to-use, storable and suitable for further in vitro and in vivo investigations. Type I collagen was extracted from rat tail tendons and processed in acetic acid solution to obtain sterile soluble collagen. At first, crude collagen was dissolved in acetic acid, then frozen at -20 degrees C and lyophilized to obtain a sponge, which could be stored at -80 degrees C. Lyophilized collagen was then dispersed in acetic acid to obtain a sterile solution of collagen at targeted concentrations. The whole low-cost process from the extraction to the final sterile solution takes around 2-3 weeks. The collagen solution, once neutralized, has the potential to be used to produce gels or scaffolds, to deposit thin films on supports and to develop drug delivery systems.