Elastooptic photon signal modulation in collagenic fiber optics of tendon.
In a test of a hypothesis of cell-to-cell communication via their endogeneous photon emissions, the nearly pure collagen fibers in tendon were found to exhibit the fiber optic property of axially conducting light, providing a mechanism for photon exchange between nonadjacent cells. Further, it was found that light penetrates farther along the tendon fibers when tension is applied to an end-illuminated tendon, establishing that an elastooptic mechanism exists for the modulation of photon signals in transit between cells, in the hypothesized system of cell-to-cell photon communication.
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002450:Cell Communication; D003094:Collagen / Q000502:physiology*; D004601:Elementary Particles; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D008297:Male; D055100:Optical Fibers; D013710:Tendons / Q000166:cytology*
D003094:Collagen