In tendons, differing physiological requirements lead to functionally distinct nanostructures
Andrew S. Quigley, Stéphane Bancelin, Dylan Deska-Gauthier, François Légaré, Laurent Kreplak & Samuel P. Veres
Scientific Reports Volume 8, Article number: 4409 (2018)
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Biomedical engineering Tendons Tissues
Received: 02 October 2017 Accepted: 28 February 2018
Published online: 13 March 2018
Abstract
The collagen-based tissues of animals are hierarchical structures: even tendon, the simplest collagenous tissue, has seven to eight levels of hierarchy. Tailoring tissue structure to match physiological function can occur at many different levels. We wanted to know if the control of tissue architecture to achieve function extends down to the nanoscale level of the individual, cable-like collagen fibrils. Using tendons from young adult bovine forelimbs, we performed stress-strain experiments on single collagen fibrils extracted from tendons with positional function, and tendons with energy storing function. Collagen fibrils from the two tendon types, which have known differences in intermolecular crosslinking, showed numerous differences in their responses to elongation. Unlike those from positional tendons, fibrils from energy storing tendons showed high strain stiffening and resistance to disruption in both molecular packing and conformation, helping to explain how these high stress tissues withstand millions of loading cycles with little reparative remodeling. Functional differences in load-bearing tissues are accompanied by important differences in nanoscale collagen fibril structure.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants to SPV and LK from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Author information
Affiliations
Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Andrew S. Quigley & Laurent Kreplak
Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Énergie, Matériaux, Télécommunication, Varennes, Canada
Stéphane Bancelin & François Légaré
Department of Medical Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Dylan Deska-Gauthier
School of Biomedical Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Laurent Kreplak & Samuel P. Veres
Division of Engineering, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada
Samuel P. Veres
Contributions
S.P.V. and L.K. conceived the study; A.S.Q. performed the A.F.M. work and data analysis; S.B. performed the S.H.G. work and analysis under the supervision of F.L.; D.D.G. performed the confocal microscopy; all authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Corresponding authors
Correspondence to Laurent Kreplak or Samuel P. Veres.
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