Collagen: Difference between revisions

In order to convince yourself that there is a difference in the interchain distances in the area of the Ala, <scene name='Collagen/1cag_measurements/2'>show distances</scene> between Gly (Ala) and Pro which form intratropocollagen hydrogen bonds.  Hydrogen bonds are not formed between Ala and Pro because the distances between the atoms forming the bonds are too great.  The absence of the intratropocollagen hydrogen bonds, which is due to the substitution of any long chain residue for Gly, disrupts collagen's rope-like structure and is responsible for the symptoms of such human diseases as osteogenesis imperfecta and certain Ehlers-Danlos syndromes.