Collagen Type III Alpha 1 Chain
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type IV, Autosomal Dominant
Collagen, Type III, Alpha 1
Collagen Alpha-1(III) Chain
EDS4A
Alpha-1 Type III Collagen
Alpha1 (III) Collagen
Collagen, Fetal
EDSVASC
PMGEDSV
This gene encodes the pro-alpha1 chains of type III collagen, a fibrillar collagen that is found in extensible connective tissues such as skin, lung, uterus, intestine and the vascular system, frequently in association with type I collagen. Mutations in this gene are associated with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV, and with aortic and arterial aneurysms. [provided by R. Dalgleish, Feb 2008]
Forensic Context
A study in human heart tissue demonstrated that the COL3A1 mRNA levels were independent of post-mortem interval in samples with non-degraded RNA, showing similar expression between long and short post-mortem interval groups [Partemi et al. DOI:10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.07.005]. In a separate study using mouse cardiac mesenchymal stem cells, the COL3A1 was identified as a downregulated hub gene in cells overexpressing HDAC11, indicating its role in transcriptional reprogramming associated with cell proliferation [Zhang et al. DOI:10.3390/biom15050662]. A study in human bone samples with post-mortem intervals of 15-20 years identified the COL3A1 as a key protein marker for long-term PMI prediction when screened using a random forest algorithm, achieving 100% differentiation accuracy in the model [He et al. DOI:10.1007/s00414-025-03625-9].