Modeling collagen fibril self-assembly from extracellular medium in embryonic tendon.

ABSTRACT: Collagen is a key structural component of multicellular organisms and is arranged in a highly organized manner. In structural tissues such as tendons, collagen forms bundles of parallel fibers between cells, which appear within a 24-h window between embryonic day 13.5 (E13.5) and E14.5 during mouse embryonic development. Current models assume that the organized structure of collagen requires direct cellular control, whereby cells actively lay down collagen fibrils from cell surfaces. However, such models appear incompatible with the time and length scales of fibril formation. We propose a phase-transition model to account for the rapid development of ordered fibrils in embryonic tendon, reducing reliance on active cellular processes. We develop phase-field crystal simulations of collagen f

SUBMITTER: Revell CK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10465709 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature