Crude collagenase preparations come from the culture medium of Clostridium histolyticum, an anaerobic, gram-positive bacterium, commonly found in soil. In addition to collagenase, the culture medium contains as many as six proteases, including clostripain, a caseinase, and a tryptic-like proteinase. The additional proteases with different substrate specificities lead to more complete digestion of collagen fragments and other components of extracellular matrix. We offer unfractionated medium, as well as medium put through a single purification step, equivalent to the 40% ammonium sulfate precipitation described by MacLennan et al (1). Some products come pre-sterilized by filtration for immediate use in cell culture applications.
1. MacLennan, JD, Mandl, I, and Howes, E. Bacterial Digestion of Collagen. J. Clin. Invest. 32, 1317 (1953)
