Mechanical properties of physiological and pathological models of collagen peptides investigated via steered molecular dynamics simulations

In this work we used molecular simulations to investigate the elastic properties of collagen single chain and triple helix with the aim of understanding its features starting from first principles. We analysed ideal collagen peptides, homotrimeric and heterotrimeric collagen type I and pathological models of collagen. Triple helices were found much more rigid than single chains, thus enlightening the important role of interchain stabilizing forces, like hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonds. We obtained Young's moduli close to 4.5 GPa for the ideal model of collagen and for the physiological heterotrimer, while the physiological homotrimer presented a Young's modulus of 2.51 GPa, that can be related to a mild form of Osteogenesis Imperfecta in which only the homotrimeric form of collagen type I is produced. Otherwise, the pathological model (presenting a glycine to alanine substitution) showed an elastic modulus of 4.32 GPa, thus only slightly lower than the ideal model. This suggests that this mutation only slightly affects the mechanical properties of the collagen molecule, but possibly acts on an higher scale, such as the packing of collagen fibrils.