Microscale mapping of extracellular matrix elasticity of mouse joint cartilage: an approach to extracting bulk elasticity of soft matter with surface roughness.

ABSTRACT: Cartilage is composed of cells and an extracellular matrix, the latter being a composite of a collagen mesh interpenetrated by proteoglycans responsible for tissue osmotic swelling. The matrix composition and structure vary through the tissue depth. Mapping such variability requires tissue sectioning to gain access. The resulting surface roughness, and concomitant proteoglycan loss contribute to large uncertainties in elastic modulus estimates. To extract elasticity values for the bulk matrix which are not obfuscated by the indeterminate surface layer, we developed a novel experimental and data analysis methodology. We analyzed the surface roughness to optimize the probe size, and performed high-resolution (1 μm) elasticity mapping on thin (∼12 μm), epiphyseal newborn mouse cartilage secti

SUBMITTER: Chandran PL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5922260 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature