THE EFFECT OF GAMMA-IRRADIATION ON COLLAGEN FIBRIL STRUCTURE

The structure of mouse skin collagen fibrils treated with 500 rad gamm a irradiation-was studied by electron microscopy. Examination of speci mens after 1, 4 and 8 weeks of treatment revealed collagen fibrils con sistently larger in diameter than those from normal specimens with the majority of irradiated fibrils measuring 110-138 nm, as opposed to 62 -84 nm in the control. No marked differences in cross-linking were det ected between irradiated and control reconstituted type I or type III collagen, either by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis or by thermal s tability measurements.