Collagen breaks at weak sacrificial bonds taming its mechanoradicals.

ABSTRACT: Collagen is a force-bearing, hierarchical structural protein important to all connective tissue. In tendon collagen, high load even below macroscopic failure level creates mechanoradicals by homolytic bond scission, similar to polymers. The location and type of initial rupture sites critically decide on both the mechanical and chemical impact of these micro-ruptures on the tissue, but are yet to be explored. We here use scale-bridging simulations supported by gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry to determine breakage points in collagen. We find collagen crosslinks, as opposed to the backbone, to harbor the weakest bonds, with one particular bond in trivalent crosslinks as the most dominant rupture site. We identify this bond as sacrificial, rupturing prior to other bonds while maintai

SUBMITTER: Rennekamp B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10097693 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature