biostudies-literatureUnknown287(53)Boudko SPPrecise mapping and unraveling the mechanism of interaction or degradation of a certain type of collagen triple helix requires the generation of short and stable collagenous fragments. This is a great challenge especially for hetero-trimeric collagens, where chain composition and register (stagger) are important factors. No system has been reported that can be efficiently used to generate a natural collagenous fragment with exact chain composition and desired chain register. The NC2 domain (only 35-50 residues) of FACIT collagens is a potent trimerization domain. In the case of type IX collagen it provides the efficient selection and hetero-trimerization of three distinct chains. The ability of the NC2 domain to determine the chain register of the triple helix is studied. We generated threThe Journal of biological chemistry44536-45https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC3531767biostudies-literatureThe NC2 domain of type IX collagen determines the chain register of the triple helix.PMC3531767Boudko SPBachinger HPfalseThe NC2 domain of type IX collagen determines the chain register of the triple helix.Precise mapping and unraveling the mechanism of interaction or degradation of a certain type of collagen triple helix requires the generation of short and stable collagenous fragments. This is a great challenge especially for hetero-trimeric collagens, where chain composition and register (stagger) are important factors. No system has been reported that can be efficiently used to generate a natural collagenous fragment with exact chain composition and desired chain register. The NC2 domain (only 35-50 residues) of FACIT collagens is a potent trimerization domain. In the case of type IX collagen it provides the efficient selection and hetero-trimerization of three distinct chains. The ability of the NC2 domain to determine the chain register of the triple helix is studied. We generated thre2012-01-01T00:00:00Z2012 Dec2025-04-04T21:16:36.725Z2019-03-27T01:02:16ZS-EPMC35317672313286210.1074/jbc.m112.41754310.1074/jbc.M112.417543