Reversible changes in the 3D collagen fibril architecture during cyclic loading of healthy and degraded cartilage.

ABSTRACT: Biomechanical changes to the collagen fibrillar architecture in articular cartilage are believed to play a crucial role in enabling normal joint function. However, experimentally there is little quantitative knowledge about the structural response of the Type II collagen fibrils in cartilage to cyclic loading in situ, and the mechanisms that drive the ability of cartilage to withstand long-term repetitive loading. Here we utilize synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) combined with in-situ cyclic loading of bovine articular cartilage explants to measure the fibrillar response in deep zone articular cartilage, in terms of orientation, fibrillar strain and inter-fibrillar variability in healthy cartilage and cartilage degraded by exposure to the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β. We d

SUBMITTER: Inamdar SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8631461 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature