Effect of UV irradiation on stabilization of collagen

Collagen is the main protein of connective tissue. It has great tensile strength, and is the main component of ligaments and tendons. It is responsible for skin elasticity, and its degradation leads to wrinkles that accompany aging. Sunlight has a profound effect on the skin causing premature skin aging, skin cancer, and a host of skin changes. Exposure to ultraviolet light, UVA or UVB, from sunlight accounts for 90% of the symptoms of premature skin aging. In this paper, effect of UV irradiation on collagen stabilization was investigated. UV irradiation will promote speed of collagen fibrillogenesis and lead to lower fibril organization level. Electrophoresis analysis and circular dichroism measurement was performed to study the relationship between collagen structure changes and UV irradiation time. At last, FTIR spectroscopy was used to investigate the main absorption bands of collagen and given the detail structure changes of collagen during UV irradiation.