Fibrin Networks Support Recurring Mechanical Loads by Adapting their Structure across Multiple Scales.

ABSTRACT: Tissues and cells sustain recurring mechanical loads that span a wide range of loading amplitudes and timescales as a consequence of exposure to blood flow, muscle activity, and external impact. Both tissues and cells derive their mechanical strength from fibrous protein scaffolds, which typically have a complex hierarchical structure. In this study, we focus on a prototypical hierarchical biomaterial, fibrin, which is one of the most resilient naturally occurring biopolymers and forms the structural scaffold of blood clots. We show how fibrous networks composed of fibrin utilize irreversible changes in their hierarchical structure at different scales to maintain reversible stress stiffening up to large strains. To trace the origin of this paradoxical resilience, we systematically tuned th

SUBMITTER: Kurniawan NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5018126 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature