It is formed by homotrimers of collagen, type II, alpha 1 chains.
Type II collagen is organised into fibrils.
This fibrillar network of collagen allows the cartilage to entrap the proteoglycan aggregate, as well as providing tensile strength to the tissue.
Oral administration of native type II collagen induces oral tolerance to pathological immune responses and may be useful in arthritis.
[1][2] This article on a gene on human chromosome 12 is a stub.