A quantitative investigation of structure-function relationships in a tendon fascicle model

These studies sought to investigate quantitative relationships between the complex composite structure and mechanical properties of tendon. The isolated mouse tail tendon fascicle was chosen as an appropriate model for these so-called "structure-function" investigations. Specifically, collagen fibril diameters and mechanical properties were measured in fascicles from immature (3 week) control, adult (8 week) control, and adult (8 week) MovI3 transgenic mice. Results demonstrated a moderate correlation between mean fibril diameter and fascicle stiffness (r = 0.73, p = 0.001) and maximum load (r = 0.75, p < 0.001), whereas a weak correlation with fascicle modulus (r = 0.39, p = 0.11) and maximum stress (r = 0.48, p = 0.04). An analysis of pooled within-group correlations revealed no strong structure-function trends evidenced at the local or group level, indicating that correlations observed in the general structure-function analyses were due primarily to having three different experimental groups, rather than significant correlations of parameters within the groups.