Confocal Rheology Probes the Structure and Mechanics of Collagen through the Sol-Gel Transition.

ABSTRACT: Fibrillar type I collagen-based hydrogels are commonly used in tissue engineering and as matrices for biophysical studies. Mechanical and structural properties of these gels are known to be governed by the conditions under which fibrillogenesis occurs, exhibiting variation as a function of protein concentration, temperature, pH, and ionic strength. Deeper understanding of how macroscopic structure affects viscoelastic properties of collagen gels over the course of fibrillogenesis provides fundamental insight into biopolymer gel properties and promises enhanced control over the properties of such gels. Here, we investigate type I collagen fibrillogenesis using confocal rheology-simultaneous confocal reflectance microscopy, confocal fluorescence microscopy, and rheology. The multimodal appro

SUBMITTER: Tran-Ba KH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5647546 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature