Fig. 3: Analysis of the 3D electron density map of the structure of collagen.
From: Intermolecular channels direct crystal orientation in mineralized collagen
The electron density map is created from X-ray diffraction data32. a Intermolecular voids within the collagen structure, with the gap/overlap zones and the banding structure labeled. The white structures correspond to the collagen molecules, and the channels between them are labeled with different colors based on their connectivity. b–e Cross-section slices viewed along the collagen fibril cut at position i (0.075 D), ii (0.505 D), iii (0.773 D) and iv (0.872 D) as highlighted by white arrows in a, respectively. b Shows the typical structures of overlap region, while c–e show the 2–3 nm wide channels in gap region with varying cross section shapes. The unit cell is highlighted by the yellow parallelogram. A ~0.3 nm wide small connection is highlighted by magenta arrow in c. Scale bars: a 2 nm, b–e 10 nm.
