collagenn.
/ˈkɒlədʒɛn/ Biology.
A protein which is present in the form of fibres as a major constituent of bone, tendons, and other connective tissue and which yields gelatin on boiling and leather on tanning. Also attributive.
ΚΠ
c1865 J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 360/2 The tissue yielding gelatine of bones, or ‘collagen’.
1942 P. Klemperer et al. in Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 23 May 331 (heading) Diffuse collagen disease. Acute disseminated lupus erythematosus and diffuse scleroderma.
1956 Nature 10 Mar. 467/2 The so-called dense, moth~eaten fibres..which result from the action of bacterial collagenase on collagen fibrils.
1957 Encycl. Brit. VI. 273/1 Collagen fibres are best seen in the tendon. They are white in the fresh state, relatively inelastic and of great tensile strength.
1965 R. P. Morehead Human Pathol. xix. 488 The term collagen diseases has been corrupted to denote a group of clinical entities associated with widespread fibrinoid degeneration of collagen.
1968 W. Bloom & D. W. Fawcett Textbk. Histol. (ed. 9) vi. 134 Application of the negative staining technique to high resolution studies of native collagen fibers has made it possible to visualize directly the tropocollagen macromolecules within the fiber.
Derivatives
ˈcollagenase n. [ < German kollagenase (W. S. Ssadikow 1927, in Biochem. Zeitschr. CLXXXI. 267)] one of a group of proteolytic enzymes which decompose collagen and gelatin.
ΚΠ
1927 Chem. Abstr. 21 2141 Collagenase is a new enzyme which is adsorbed by kaolin, which leaves fibrinase in sol[ution].
1956 [see main sense]. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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