A Highly Specific and Versatile Biochip for Ultra-Sensitive Quantification of Denatured Collagen in Assessing Collagen Quality

Abstract

Collagen, a widely used biomaterial, is susceptible to denaturation during production from native tissues, posing serious challenges for its applications in tissue engineering. Accurate quantification of denatured collagen (DC) is essential for evaluating the quality of collagen-based biomaterials, yet quantitative methods for assessing collagen denaturation are lacking. Here, we for the first time present a highly specific biochip for sensitive quantification of denatured collagen levels (L dc), addressing this critical need in collagen quality analysis. The denatured collagen-specific chip (DCSC) features an intrinsically nontrimerizing peptide probe, F-GOP-14, targeting denatured collagen and a fully denatured collagen-coated capture surface. The DCSC demonstrates exceptional sensitivity and accuracy in quantifying DC concentration (C dc) and total collagen concentration (C tc), enabling precise calculation of L dc. Importantly, DCSC is versatile, detecting L dc across various denaturing scenarios, including UV radiation, thermal environments, and decellularization. This denatured collagen-specific biochip offers a robust method for accurately analyzing L dc, with significant potential for enhancing collagen quality assessment in biomaterial development and production.