Figure 3. Disordered D-periodicity makes the collagen fibril susceptible to degradation by ColG.
(a) HS-AFM image sequence of collagen microribbon before and after disturbing its alignment (see bottom left region in each frame) by a large tapping force. Scanning rate, 10 s/frame; Scan area, 1000 × 1000 nm2 with 500 × 500 pixels; Bar, 200 nm. (b) AFM image ~50 min after addition of 1.5 μg/mL ColG to the same area shown in (a). The disarrayed collagen is degraded faster than the ordered collagen fibrils (bottom left).