Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an essential reducing agent for the biosynthesis of collagen, an important connective tissue protein. (In fact, collagen is the most abundant protein in the body). Vitamin C maintains the iron atom of prolyl hydroxylate in the ferrous state. Prolyl hydroxylase carries out the hydroxylation of collagen, which gives the fibers their strength. Collagen synthesized absent Vitamin C is insufficiently hydroxylated. Scurvy, vitamin C deficiency, for example, is caused when there is insufficient vitamin C to carry out proper collagen synthesis.
![]() ![]() WikiPremed is a trademark of Wisebridge Learning Systems LLC. The work of WikiPremed is published under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike License. There are elements of work here, such as a subset of the images in the archive from WikiPedia, that originated as GNU General Public License works, so take care to follow the unique stipulations of that license in printed reproductions. |