Identification of Small Peptides of Acidic Collagen Extracts from Silver Carp Skin and Their Therapeutic Relevance.

BACKGROUND: Low-temperature techniques that prevent protein denaturation are being used to extract collagen from fish skin for cosmetic purposes. These extracts contain collagen with its triple helix structure preserved, as well as a number of other proteins.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate collagen extracts from the skin of silver carp for the presence of small-molecule peptides.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was performed to analyze collagen extracts from silver carp skin for the presence of small-molecule peptides.

RESULTS: A large number of different peptides were detected in the silver carp skin collagen extracts analyzed. Among the smaller peptides, the most abundant were those of 7-29 aminoacids originating from the following proteins: collagen Iα1, collagen Iα2, collagen Iα3, collagen VIα3, decorin, lumican, histone H2A, histone H2B and histone H4.

CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated that, in addition to high-molecular-weight collagen proteins, acidic collagen extracts acquired from the skin of silver carp at temperatures up to 16°C also contain considerable amounts of small 7-29 amino-acid peptides. The application of these peptides could therefore be expected to result in beneficial clinical effects in patients in need of reconstructive treatment.