- J Exposito: Institut de Biologie et Chimie des Protéines, CNRS, Unité Propre de Recherche 412, Université Claude Bernard, 7 passage du Vercors, 69367 cedex 07, Lyon, France. jy.exposito@ibcp.fr
From considerations of gene structure, phylogenetic analysis, modular organisation of related proteins and fibril shapes, we suggest a model for the evolution of contemporary vertebrate fibrillar collagens from a common ancestral alpha chain.