In situ imaging of strained collagen fibrils

Damage to collagenous tissues remain difficult to treat due to uncertainty of how their constituents operate under tension. The smallest of these constituents is the collagen fibril, a rope-like aggregate of collagen molecules with a structure comparable to man-made fibres. While the force-elongation curve of collagen fibrils is fairly well characterized, structural changes due to elongation remain poorly understood. In this talk I will present an in situ atomic force microscopy approach to probe the morphology and cohesiveness of strained fibrils.