Collagen Sources and Areas of Use

Fibrillar collagen type I undenatured represent the major structural component of all organs and connective tissues, which due to low antigenicity and outstanding biocompatibility the possibility of controlling the time of biodegradation by crosslinking, the ease of forming composites with other natural polymers and synthetic, represents one of the most used natural biomaterials . Collagen biomaterials are successfully used in gene therapy for artificial implants. They are used as medical devices, scaffolds for tissue regeneration, supports for drug release. Collagen can be extracted from various sources considering that it is one of the most abundant proteins on earth. It can be extracted from almost every living animal, even including alligators and kangaroos. Nonetheless, common sources of collagen for tissue engineering applications include bovine skin and tendons, porcine skin and rat tail among others. Marine life forms are also a considerable source of collagen, which can be extracted from sponges, fish and jellyfish. These collagens are widely used in the industry, but less for research and clinical usage. All these collagen sources are worth investigating considering that collagen properties differ from one animal to another. Collagen can also be used in biomedical applications as a decellularized ECM serving as a scaffolding material for tissue regeneration. Although extractible from many different sources, the diversity of acellular. Due to these features and the possibility to be isolated in pure collagen, they are essential in areas such as medicine, cosmetics, food and pharmaceutical applications.