title: Mechanical, compositional, and structural properties of the post-natal mouse Achilles tendon.
abstract: During post-natal development, tendons undergo a well orchestrated process whereby extensive structural and compositional changes occur in synchrony to produce a normal tissue. Conversely, during the repair response to injury, structural and compositional changes occur, but in this case, a mechanically inferior tendon is produced. As a result, the process of development has been postulated as a potential paradigm through which improved adult tissue healing may occur. In this study we measured the mechanical, compositional, and structural properties in the post-natal mouse Achilles tendon at 4, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days old. Throughout post-natal development, the mechanical properties, collagen content, fibril diameter mean, and fibril diameter standard deviation increased. Biglycan expression decreased and decorin expression and fiber organization were unchanged. This study provides a new mouse model that can be used to quantitatively examine mechanical development, as well as compositional and structural changes and biological mechanisms, during post-natal tendon development. This model is advantageous due to the large number of genetically modified mice and commercially available assays that are not available in other animal models. A mouse model therefore allows future mechanistic studies to build on this work.
authors: McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6081, USA.
authors: Heather L
authors: HL
authors: Ansorge
authors: Sheila
authors: S
authors: Adams
authors: David E
authors: DE
authors: Birk
authors: Louis J
authors: LJ
authors: Soslowsky
mesh_terms: D000125:Achilles Tendon / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D019245:Compressive Strength / Q000502:physiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D055119:Elastic Modulus / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D008954:Models, Biological; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength / Q000502:physiology