Collagen Glycation Detected by Its Intrinsic Fluorescence

J Phys Chem B. 2021 Oct 7;125(39):11058-11066. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c05001. Epub 2021 Sep 24.

Abstract

Collagen's long half-life (in skin approximately 10 years) makes this protein highly susceptible to glycation and formation of the advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Accumulation of cross-linking AGEs in the skin collagen has several detrimental effects; thus, the opportunity for non-invasive monitoring of skin glycation is essential, especially for diabetic patients. In this paper, we report using the time-resolved intrinsic fluorescence of collagen as a biomarker of its glycation. Contrary to the traditional fluorescence intensity decay measurement at the arbitrarily selected excitation and detection wavelengths, we conducted systematic wavelength- and time-resolved measurements to achieve time-resolved emission spectra. Changes in the intrinsic fluorescence kinetics, caused by both collagen aggregation and glycation, have been detected.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Collagen*
  • Fluorescence
  • Glycation End Products, Advanced*
  • Humans
  • Kinetics
  • Skin

Substances

  • Glycation End Products, Advanced
  • Collagen