Shining Light on Collagen: Expressing Collagen in Plants

Collagens are a remarkable group of proteins that are critical from a physiological perspective due to their diverse and versatile functions in vivo. However, collagens are challenging to generate ex vivo for biomaterials or regenerative medicine due to their complex processing and assembly into functional materials. Therefore, collagen availability remains a major unmet need for biomaterials, as relatively limited supplies of the protein in pure form are available mainly through harvesting bovine tissues. This animal source, subsequent to purification, remains associated with significant safety concerns due to the potential carryover of animal-derived diseases. Other more limited sources of animal collagens are also commercially available, as well as collagens generated in heterologous hosts; however, the challenge to these sources remains both economic and structural. The need for new safe sources of collagens remains high, with a significant potential impact in areas of medicine when considering the opportunity to mimic native collagen features. The articles in this issue of the journal focus on plant-derived collagens to address some of these needs. Progress toward plant production of collagens, the ability to self-assemble these recombinant proteins into higher-order structures, and the utility of these materials in various medical applications suggest an important path forward for the field.