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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 1999;19:1506-1511.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.

Atherosclerosis and Lipoproteins

Complete Processing of Type III Collagen in Atherosclerotic Plaques

Michaela K. Bode; Martti Mosorin; Jari Satta; Leila Risteli; Tatu Juvonen; Juha Risteli

From the Departments of Clinical Chemistry (M.K.B., L.R., J.R.) and Surgery (M.M., J.S., T.J), University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

Correspondence to Professor Juha Risteli, Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Oulu, FIN-90220 Oulu, Finland. E-mail juha.risteli{at}oulu.fi

Abstract—The extent of processing of type III collagen is assessed, and the proportions of type I and III collagens are estimated in atherosclerotic plaques obtained from the carotid artery, common femoral artery, and aorta. The fraction of type III collagen that had retained its amino-terminal propeptide (pN-collagen) was 42% in the soluble extract but only 0.0081% in the insoluble residue. Taken together, only 0.011% of the type III collagen in whole plaques was in the form of type III pN-collagen. Together with the small amounts of the free propeptides of type I procollagen, this finding indicates a low rate of collagen turnover. The amounts of solubilized telopeptides of type I and III collagens were measured, after heat denaturation and trypsin digestion of the collagenous helix, by specific immunoassays for the corresponding trypsin-generated antigens. The mean proportion of type III collagen was 61% (95% confidence interval, 58% to 65%) in the carotid and femoral artery plaques and 56% (95% confidence interval, 44% to 68%) in the aortic specimens. The completely processed and cross-linked type III collagen seems to be the major collagen type in atherosclerotic plaques.

Key Words: atherosclerosis • plaque • collagen • extracellular matrix

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