Collagen is one of the body’s important natural resources and a component of skin tissue and connective tissue. Its application as a wound dressing& surgical material is vastly promising.

1. Collagen: Changing the Course of the Future
Md. Iftekhar Mahmood (Department of Fabric Engineering)
Muh. Amdadul Hoque (Department of Fabric Engineering)
Batch: 39_08
A famous American architect and inventor R. Buckminster said,” You never change things by
fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing
model obsolete.” It is in this spirit that the predictions are made. New science can produce
products beyond our present perception. Collagen fiber is that name that made a dream into
reality.
Collagen is one of the body’s important natural resources and a component of skin tissue and
connective tissue. Its application as a wound dressing& surgical material is vastly promising.
Traditional wound dressing such as plasters, bandages. gauze, lint etc. are ineffective due to their
excessive drainage and becomes adherent to the wound surface which makes it painful to
remove. These dressings are also easily infected, creating discomfort & irritation, become hard,
unease in application and unnatural. Over the last 30 years there has been a shifting from
traditional wound dressings towards those advanced dressing that aim to optimize the wound
healing environment. Modern wound dressing have been developed to facilitate the function of
the wound rather than just to cover it. These dressings are focused to keep the wound from
dehydration and promote healing. Collagen fiber is making its mark in this field for its versatile
characteristics which facilitates wound healing process.
Well, the uses of collagen did not start in the modern era. The first use of collagen was found to
be more than 8000 years old. But then it was used as glue. Egyptians used collagen as adhesive
materials in their paintings and wooden furniture. Real scientific discovery about its basic
structure and its huge application field was in 1930's.Since then many famous scientists and
Nobel laureates made their contribution in its development. Research and development about its
application in the advanced medical uses began in the 1980’s.

2. Fig: Crystal Structure Of The Collagen Triple Helix.
Collagen is a common protein and a key component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the
living(human or animal) body. As a structural protein, collagen is essential to creating the body’s
physical structure and as an extracellular matrix it acts as a supporting framework over which
our cells are arranged. The collagen molecule is composed of three intertwined peptide chains
and formed a triple helical structure. This triple-helical structure of collagen arises from an
unusual abundance of three amino acids: glycine, proline and hydroxyproline each performing a
precise function. Collagen is a rigid protein 300 nm in length, 1.5 nm in diameter, and
approximately 300 kilodaltons (kDa) in molecular weight. The entire molecule consists of about
3,000 amino acids. The triple-helical collagen molecules pack together side by side and form
fibrils with a diameter of 50-200nm.the collagen molecules in the fibrils displaced one another
by about 65nm. Covalent- aldol cross-links form between two adjacent collagen molecules.
These cross-links stabilize the side-by-side packing of collagen molecules and generate a strong
fibril.

3. To date 29 types of collagen have been identified. Over 90% of the collagen in the body is of
type I-IV; with the most abundant being Type I. Type I and III are important for wound healing.
In a wound healing process a large number of things happen quickly in a series includes-
gathering of platelet, inflammation, rapid increase in fibroblast, cell contraction, formation of
new blood vessels and restoration of epithelium cells which ultimately leading to scar formation
& wound remodeling. In case of normal wound healing in one of these healing stages, a chronic
wound is stalled which usually occurs during the inflammatory phase and is related to higher
level of matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) in the wound. MMPs are attracted to the wound &
break down unhealthy extracellular matrix (ECM). This leads to new tissue formation. However,
if MMPs are present in higher level for a long time, it causes destruction of healthy ECM and
increase wound size. Then an alternative method is needed for wound management, which
suggests the role of collagen dressing.
Collagen fiber plays an important role in each of these phases of wound healing. It attracts cells
such as fibroblasts and keratinocytes to the wound. This encourages the removal of damaged
tissue, formation of new blood vessels and restoration of epithelium cells. Collagen dressings
stimulate new tissue growth and encourage the deposition and organization of newly formed
collagen fibers and granulation tissue in the wound bed. These dressings chemically bind to
matrix metalloproteinase’s (MMPs) found in the extracellular fluid of wounds. MMPs normally
attack and break down collagen. Wound dressing containing collagen gives MMPs an alternative
collagen source, leaving the body’s natural collagen available for normal wound healing.

4. In summary, collagen performs these functions in wound healing-
Guides fibroblasts which migrate along a connective tissue matrix.
Attracts fibrogenic cells for healing.
Creates formation of fibrillar structures.
Guides new collagen deposition and capillary growth.
Keep blood within a damaged blood vessel.
Collagen dressings are suitable in various wound treatment such as Bed sores, Minor burns, Foot
ulcers, chronic wounds, large open cuts etc. It is highly effective in-
1. Partial and full thickness wounds.
2. Wounds with minimal to heavy exudates.
3. Skin grafts and skin donation sites.
4. Second-degree burns.
5. Granulating or necrotic wounds.
6. Chronic non healing wounds.
Common source of collagen fiber is from bovine, porcine, equine, or avian sources. Most of the
medical collagen is derived from young beef cattle, which is purified in order to make it non-
antigenic. It may contains ingredients, such as alginates and cellulose derivatives that can
enhance absorbency, flexibility, and comfort, and help maintain a moist wound environment
Collagen fiber has excellent biocompatibility which makes it popular choice for using as suture.
They are as strong as silk and are biodegradable & can readily be accepted by body because of
their low immunogenicity. Main features of collagen fiber are- high tensile strength, excellent
biocompatibility, non-antigenic.
Scaffolds with nano-fibrous architecture have been produced by the electro-spinning of chitosan
followed by imbibing of collagen solution. This scaffold maintains similar structural and

5. functional attributes of native extracellular matrix which makes it applicable in skin tissue
engineering. Collagen fiber is used in cosmetic surgery for reconstruction of bone and a wide
variety of dental, orthopedic, and surgical purposes. It is widely used in bone grafting because of
it’s certain structure & strength.
A fibrous connective tissue called Tendon, which connects muscle to bone. These are made of
closely packed fibrous collagen. The tendons in the foot are highly complex and intricate.
Tendon injuries are common in athletes. As the Collagen fiber technology has traditionally
lacked the ability to create fibers that can be produced continually and controlled, Tendon
injuries are notoriously difficult to heal. Currently a team led by Prof. Mohsen Miraftab at
University of Bolton working on a tendon healing method which can provide a more effective
treatment to the damaged tendon. The team has discovered a unique technique to spin collagen
fibers, which can be interwoven into the damaged tendon, offering a natural scaffolding support
on which cells can grow successfully. The team pioneering a highly specialized technique, which
produces a continuous, single fine thread, developing a strong structure with controllable
flexibility and on which cells can flourish.
Since collagen is a natural, widely available protein involved in the support and protection of
vital structures, many researchers have tried to use extraneous collagen to protect the surface of
the eye in a variety of disease states. The pioneer in this research is Dr. Svyatoslav Fyodorov of
the Soviet Union who was able to extract collagen from porcine sclera and shape it in the form of
a contact lens that can easily be placed on the surface of the eye. Early experience with his
collagen "contact lens" showed that it was able to protect the ocular surface and also that it was
dissolvable. It seemed that naturally occurring enzymes in the tear film caused the collagen
contact lens to dissolve over a period of time within 24 to 72 hours.

6. A number of laboratory and clinical studies are beginning to show that the drug concentrations
released from the collagen shield are high enough to be effectively used in treating a variety of
diseases including infections and inflammation of the ocular surface.
Along with all of its fascinating advantages, it comes with some problems. Particularly when
collagen is obtained from bovine or porcine, it transmits severe foot and mouth diseases.
Collagen derived from animal always contains the risk of zoonosis such as Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy (BSE) and there is always the concern of high production cost. So the scientists
have been looking for an alternative source and they have turned to the ocean. Collagen derived
from blue tilapia fish is the most promising source of fish collagen. Fish collagen is considered
to be a novel biomaterial for cell and tissue culture .A team of scientists from American chemical
Society has developed a wound dressing from tilapia skin collagen sponge and electrospun
nanofibers. They used it to cover rats wound. the rats with the nano-fiber dressing healed faster
than those without it. It is found that the collagen nano-fibers stimulated the skin regeneration
rapidly and effectively. Furthermore fish collagen was not likely to cause any immune reaction.
So it is a good candidate for clinical use. The nano/micro fibrous fish collagen scaffolds were
fabricated through self-assembly owing to its amphipathic nature. This collagen scaffold is
highly potential in cell and tissue engineering. Despite it’s huge potential there is comparatively
less on-going research in this field.