Steady-state and pulse-chase collagen analyses are powerful approaches to investigate in vitro the structure of collagen and its kinetic of secretion, respectively. The electrophoretic analysis of purified 3H-proline-labeled collagen allows to determine the nature and post translational modifications of its α chains, whereas short-pulse labeling can be used to follow collagen secretion over time.
Keywords: Collagen; Osteogenesis imperfecta; Post translational modifications; Pulse-chase; Steady-state.