Collagen :)

Many people may say what is collagen and why would we need to know anything about it, right?  Well it turns out collagen is EXTREMELY important to our bodies.  Collagen forms molecular cables that build up our tendons and have vast, resilient sheets that support our skin and internal organs.  Collagen is made up of three amino acids called glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline.  

Vitamin C plays a very important part in the formation of collagen.  Vitamin C helps in the addition of oxygen.  If a person doesn't get enough vitamin C in their diet the production of hydroxyproline and stops the making of new collagen.  This could cause scurvy, which is a severe disease.

Polypeptide chains are arranged by having every third amino acid as a glycine, and many of the remaining amino acids are proline or hydroxyproline.  

Osteogenesis Imperfecta is a bone disease and it is also referred to as the "brittle bone disease."  The main symptom of OI is bone fractures.  However, many other symptoms can occur such as: muscle weakness, hearing loss, fatigue, joint laxity, and scoliosis.  There are eight types of Osteogenesis Imperfecta.  Type I OI is the least severe and most common form of the disorder.  OI Type I is the differs from the other types of OI because the collagen structure remains normal.  OI Type II is the most severe form.  

The role of collagen in bones is very important because your collagen levels predict the strength of your bones.  Collagen problems often lead to bone problems because if you have an insufficient level of collagen, your bones are going to be weak and have "brittle bones", which means they break and fracture easily.

Overall, I learned that collagen is very important to know about and it is crucial to our bodies.  If we don't have sufficient levels of collagen we will have weak bones!!! :)