Can muscle lysosomal enzymes affect muscle collagen post-mortem?

Incubation of collagen fibres with muscle lysosomal enzymes at 37°C, pH 5·5, affects significantly the thermal stability of muscle collagen. The thermolabile fraction increases and the strength of the fibres measured through thermal contraction decreases by/nearly 50% after treatment. It is concluded that the muscle lysosomal fraction contains an enzyme system which can reduce the strength of muscle collagen at pH 5·5. The reason why this potential is not exhibited post-mortem could be due to a limited release of the enzymes or the presence of enzyme inhibitors.