Collagen pre-strain discontinuity at the bone-Cartilage interface.
The bone-cartilage unit (BCU) is a universal feature in diarthrodial joints, which is mechanically-graded and subjected to shear and compressive strains. Changes in the BCU have been linked to osteoarthritis (OA) progression. Here we report existence of a physiological internal strain gradient (pre-...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0273832&type=printable |
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| author | Waqas Badar Husna Ali Olivia N Brooker Elis Newham Tim Snow Nicholas J Terrill Gianluca Tozzi Peter Fratzl Martin M Knight Himadri S Gupta |
| author_facet | Waqas Badar Husna Ali Olivia N Brooker Elis Newham Tim Snow Nicholas J Terrill Gianluca Tozzi Peter Fratzl Martin M Knight Himadri S Gupta |
| author_sort | Waqas Badar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The bone-cartilage unit (BCU) is a universal feature in diarthrodial joints, which is mechanically-graded and subjected to shear and compressive strains. Changes in the BCU have been linked to osteoarthritis (OA) progression. Here we report existence of a physiological internal strain gradient (pre-strain) across the BCU at the ultrastructural scale of the extracellular matrix (ECM) constituents, specifically the collagen fibril. We use X-ray scattering that probes changes in the axial periodicity of fibril-level D-stagger of tropocollagen molecules in the matrix fibrils, as a measure of microscopic pre-strain. We find that mineralized collagen nanofibrils in the calcified plate are in tensile pre-strain relative to the underlying trabecular bone. This behaviour contrasts with the previously accepted notion that fibrillar pre-strain (or D-stagger) in collagenous tissues always reduces with mineralization, via reduced hydration and associated swelling pressure. Within the calcified part of the BCU, a finer-scale gradient in pre-strain (0.6% increase over ~50μm) is observed. The increased fibrillar pre-strain is linked to prior research reporting large tissue-level residual strains under compression. The findings may have biomechanical adaptative significance: higher in-built molecular level resilience/damage resistance to physiological compression, and disruption of the molecular-level pre-strains during remodelling of the bone-cartilage interface may be potential factors in osteoarthritis-based degeneration. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-574c885768f74cd7b8bc1a26a80e628a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-574c885768f74cd7b8bc1a26a80e628a2025-08-20T02:22:25ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01179e027383210.1371/journal.pone.0273832Collagen pre-strain discontinuity at the bone-Cartilage interface.Waqas BadarHusna AliOlivia N BrookerElis NewhamTim SnowNicholas J TerrillGianluca TozziPeter FratzlMartin M KnightHimadri S GuptaThe bone-cartilage unit (BCU) is a universal feature in diarthrodial joints, which is mechanically-graded and subjected to shear and compressive strains. Changes in the BCU have been linked to osteoarthritis (OA) progression. Here we report existence of a physiological internal strain gradient (pre-strain) across the BCU at the ultrastructural scale of the extracellular matrix (ECM) constituents, specifically the collagen fibril. We use X-ray scattering that probes changes in the axial periodicity of fibril-level D-stagger of tropocollagen molecules in the matrix fibrils, as a measure of microscopic pre-strain. We find that mineralized collagen nanofibrils in the calcified plate are in tensile pre-strain relative to the underlying trabecular bone. This behaviour contrasts with the previously accepted notion that fibrillar pre-strain (or D-stagger) in collagenous tissues always reduces with mineralization, via reduced hydration and associated swelling pressure. Within the calcified part of the BCU, a finer-scale gradient in pre-strain (0.6% increase over ~50μm) is observed. The increased fibrillar pre-strain is linked to prior research reporting large tissue-level residual strains under compression. The findings may have biomechanical adaptative significance: higher in-built molecular level resilience/damage resistance to physiological compression, and disruption of the molecular-level pre-strains during remodelling of the bone-cartilage interface may be potential factors in osteoarthritis-based degeneration.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0273832&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Waqas Badar Husna Ali Olivia N Brooker Elis Newham Tim Snow Nicholas J Terrill Gianluca Tozzi Peter Fratzl Martin M Knight Himadri S Gupta Collagen pre-strain discontinuity at the bone-Cartilage interface. PLoS ONE |
| title | Collagen pre-strain discontinuity at the bone-Cartilage interface. |
| title_full | Collagen pre-strain discontinuity at the bone-Cartilage interface. |
| title_fullStr | Collagen pre-strain discontinuity at the bone-Cartilage interface. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Collagen pre-strain discontinuity at the bone-Cartilage interface. |
| title_short | Collagen pre-strain discontinuity at the bone-Cartilage interface. |
| title_sort | collagen pre strain discontinuity at the bone cartilage interface |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0273832&type=printable |
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