| dc.description.abstract | Collagen is the major structural fiber found in mammalian tissues. It is a protein
in the form of a triple-helix which is found in several subfamilies, the
most abundant of which is the fiber forming group containing Types I, II and
III. Type I collagen is found in tendons, skin, cornea, bone, lung and vessel
walls. This collagen is thought to give rise to the high tensile strengths of collagen
fibers in tissues; in addition, it is actively involved in other physiologic
processes such mechanotransduction. However, the non-linear mechanical
behavior and viscoelasticity of collagen fibers make analysis of the mechanical
properties of tissues complicated. Mechanistically, during mechanical loading,
a tensional increase in the D period is observed with increasing strain that is
associated with: 1) molecular elongation at the triple-helical level of structure;
2) increases in the gap distance between the end of one triple-helix and the
start of the next one in the microfibril; and 3) molecular slippage. In this paper,
we discuss the relationship between collagen hierarchical structure and its
non-linear mechanical properties. Using vibrational analysis and optical coherence
tomography, it is hoped that the mechanical properties of collagenous
tissues can be studied in vivo in order to better understand tissue mechanics
and to be better able to offer early diagnosis and differentiation of different
disease states | en_US |
