Collagen for Medical Materials

Collagen is central to a range of biomedical materials, but important questions remain as to the relationships between source, processing, structure, physical properties such as viscosity, pH and solubility, and cell response. Covalent linkages and chemical modification of acidic and basic groups in the structurally-sensitive cell-binding sequences of collagen influence biofunction. This project starts by exploring these fundamental relationships and the consequences for medical material design.