Size-Dependent Rheology of Type-I Collagen Networks

We investigate the system size-dependent rheological response of branched type I collagen gels. When subjected to a shear strain, the highly interconnected mesh dynamically reorients, resulting in overall stiffening of the network. When a continuous shear strain is applied to a collagen network, we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biophysical journal 2010-10, Vol.99 (8), p.L65-L67
Main Authors: Arevalo, Richard C., Urbach, Jeffrey S., Blair, Daniel L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biophysical Letter
Biophysics
Branched
Collagen
Collagen Type I - chemistry
Collagens
Dynamical systems
Dynamics
Elastic Modulus
Networks
Nonlinear Dynamics
Rats
Rheological properties
Rheology
Shear strain
Shear Strength
Stiffening
Stress, Mechanical
Tissues
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Summary:We investigate the system size-dependent rheological response of branched type I collagen gels. When subjected to a shear strain, the highly interconnected mesh dynamically reorients, resulting in overall stiffening of the network. When a continuous shear strain is applied to a collagen network, we observe that the local apparent modulus, in the strain-stiffening regime, is strongly dependent on the gel thickness. In addition, we demonstrate that the overall network failure is determined by the ratio of the gel thickness to the mesh size. These findings have broad implications for cell-matrix interactions, the interpretation of rheological tissue data, and the engineering of biomimetic scaffolds.
ISSN:0006-3495
1542-0086
DOI:10.1016/j.bpj.2010.08.008