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Abstract
Alveolar mucosa and attached gingiva are two continuous but functionally distinct connective tissues covering alveolar bone of the jaw. In this study, the major matrix component of these tissues, collagen, was biochemically characterized and compared. The tissues were obtained from mature pigs and analyzed for collagen content, amino acid composition, collagen types, collagen cross-linking, and gene expression. We found that alveolar mucosa is primarily composed of fibrillar collagens and the collagen content is higher than attached gingiva. The content of type III relative to type I collagen was higher in alveolar mucosa when compared with attached gingiva. The collagen cross-linking pattern also was distinct between the two tissues demonstrating that alveolar mucosa contained fewer reducible cross-links but more nonreducible cross-links in comparison to attached gingiva. The mRNA expression level of type I collagen in alveolar mucosa was significantly lower than that of attached gingiva. These results indicate that alveolar mucosa is a fibrillar collagen-rich tissue and, in comparison to gingival tissue, remodels slowly.