Tendon and Ligament Research

Our long-term research interests are in elucidating the biologic basis for the link between the application of mechanical forces and the cellular and metabolic response of tendon and ligament to the applied loads. Currently, we are developing three approaches to our research program.

The first involves quantitatively investigating explicit relationships between the microstructural composition/organization and the mechanical properties of the tissue in a tail tendon fascicle model. The utilization of transgenic animals allows the direct investigation of how perturbations in extracellular matrix composition and structure affect the tissue's mechanical properties. An improved understanding of these so-called 'structure-function' relationships provides significant insight toward the basic science study of extracellular matrix macromolecules, as well as potential mechanisms of connective tissue adaptation.

Secondly, an in vivo model will be developed to investigate the tendon and/or ligament adaptive response to alterations in mechanical loading (i.e., stress-deprivation or stress-enhancement). Studies utilizing this model system will investigate the kinetics of stress-induced adaptation and its relationship with altered tissue mechanics. Furthermore, such a model will allow investigation of the mechanisms involved in the adaptive processes.

The third aspect of our research involves the development of in vitro culture models of isolated tendon or ligament fascicles and cells to investigate the relationship between various metabolic and structural parameters and the mechanical loading environment. Cultures will be subjected to various loading paradigms and the cellular response investigated. These data will be validated, in part, by the in vivo model system described above.

Figures: (a) Biochemical, (b) morphologic, and (c) mechanical testing assays are utilized to investigate relationships between tissue composition, structure and mechanical properties.