ISOLATION AND PARTIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEW ALPHA COMPONENT OF COLLAGEN FROM MUSCLE OF KURUMA PRAWN PENAEUS-JAPONICUS

1. A new alpha-component, alpha-2(Pr), was successfully isolated from the pepsin-solubilized collagen from the muscle of kuruma prawn. 2. The component alpha-2(Pr) was genetically distinct from components comprising Type AR-I and AR-II collagens by peptide mapping with proteases, amino acid analysis, and immunoblotting, and had high contents of leucine and hydroxylysine, and a low content of alanine. 3. The effect of pepsin digestion on the molecule containing the alpha-2(Pr) component was examined by using immunological techniques. The component alpha-2(Pr) in intact form consisted of several types of components. Although they were all identical to each other in the helical region, each of them had a distinct form of non-helical region with a slight modification.