Multifilament Collagen Fiber Bundles with Tendon-like Structure and Mechanical Performance

Collagen multifilament bundles comprised of thousands of monofilaments are prepared by multipin contact drawing of an entangled polymer solution consisting of collagen and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The multifilament bundles are hydrated in graded concentrations of PEO and phosphate buffered saline...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Macromolecular rapid communications. 2023-09, Vol.44 (18), p.e2300204-e2300204
Main Authors: Yaghoobi, Hessameddin, Clarke, Alison, Kerr, Gavin, Frampton, John, Kreplak, Laurent
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Additives
Collagen
Ethylene oxide
Fabrication
Fibrillogenesis
Mechanical properties
Microfibrils
Modulus of elasticity
Molecular structure
Periodicity
Phenylalanine
Polyethylene oxide
Polymers
Radiation crosslinking
Sequence analysis
Structural analysis
Tendons
Tensile properties
Ultimate tensile strength
Ultraviolet radiation
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Summary:Collagen multifilament bundles comprised of thousands of monofilaments are prepared by multipin contact drawing of an entangled polymer solution consisting of collagen and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The multifilament bundles are hydrated in graded concentrations of PEO and phosphate buffered saline (PBS) to promote assembly of collagen fibrils within each monofilament while preserving the structure of the multifilament bundle. Multiscale structural characterization reveals that the hydrated multifilament bundle contains properly folded collagen molecules packed in collagen fibrils containing microfibrils, staggered by exactly one-sixth of the microfibril D-band spacing to produce a periodicity of 11 nm. Sequence analysis predicts that in this structure, phenylalanine residues are close enough within and between microfibrils to become ultraviolet C (UVC) crosslinked. In agreement with this analysis, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and Young's modulus of the hydrated collagen multifilament bundles crosslinked by UVC radiation increase nonlinearly with total UVC energy to reach values in the range of native tendons without damage to the collagen molecules. This fabrication method recapitulates the structure of a tendon across multiple length scales and offers tunability in tensile properties using only collagen molecules and no other chemical additives in addition to PEO, which is almost entirely removed during the hydration process.
ISSN:1022-1336
1521-3927
DOI:10.1002/marc.202300204