Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of pepsin-solubilized collagens from post-burn granulation tissues revealed that type V collagen consisted of 3 alpha chains: alpha 1(V), alpha 2(V), and alpha 3(V). The mean value (0.12 +/- 0.01 SD) of the type V/type I ratio in the granulation tissues was significantly higher (p less than 0.001) than that (0.03 +/- 0.01 SD) of the ratio in normal skin. The average ratio of alpha 1(V):alpha 2(V):alpha 3(V) of type V collagen purified from the granulation tissues was determined to be about 5:3:1. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis patterns of 3 alpha chains were not affected in the presence or absence of 2-mercaptoethanol. Purified type V collagen was degraded by bacterial collagenase, but remained intact after tadpole collagenase digestion, in contrast to type I and type III collagens. Amino acid analyses of each alpha chain separated on SDS-gel electrophoresis of type V collagen revealed that all 3 alpha chains of type V collagen were poor in alanine, rich in hydroxylysine, and had high ratios of hydroxylysine/lysine, which are typical features of type V collagen. The purified type V collagen was further fractionated by ammonium sulfate into 2 molecular species, [alpha 1(V)]2 alpha 2(V) and alpha 1(V)alpha 2(V)alpha 3(V). Our data demonstrate that type V collagen in preparations from human post-burn granulation tissues consists of 3 alpha chains and can be resolved into 2 distinct heterotrimers.