Elucidation of extracellular matrix mechanics from muscle fibers and fiber bundles.

The importance of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in muscle is widely recognized, since ECM plays a central role in proper muscle development (Buck and Horwitz, 1987), tissue structural support (Purslow, 2002), and transmission of mechanical signals between fibers and tendon (Huijing, 1999). Since substrate biomechanical properties have been shown to be critical in the biology of tissue development and remodeling (Engler et al., 2006; Gilbert et al., 2010), it is likely that mechanics are critical for ECM to perform its function. Unfortunately, there are almost no data available regarding skeletal muscle ECM viscoelastic properties. This is primarily due to the impossibility of isolating and testing muscle ECM. Therefore, this note presents a new method to quantify viscoelastic ECM modulus by combining tests of single muscle fibers and fiber bundles. Our results demonstrate that ECM is a highly nonlinearly elastic material, while muscle fibers are linearly elastic.

[1]  S. Street,et al.  Lateral transmission of tension in frog myofibers: A myofibrillar network and transverse cytoskeletal connections are possible transmitters , 1983, Journal of cellular physiology.

[2]  S. Thrun,et al.  Substrate Elasticity Regulates Skeletal Muscle Stem Cell Self-Renewal in Culture , 2010, Science.

[3]  Peter P Purslow,et al.  The structure and functional significance of variations in the connective tissue within muscle. , 2002, Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology.

[4]  R. Lieber,et al.  Inferior mechanical properties of spastic muscle bundles due to hypertrophic but compromised extracellular matrix material , 2003, Muscle & nerve.

[5]  T. Irving,et al.  Passive tension in cardiac muscle: contribution of collagen, titin, microtubules, and intermediate filaments. , 1995, Biophysical journal.

[6]  P A Huijing,et al.  Muscle as a collagen fiber reinforced composite: a review of force transmission in muscle and whole limb. , 1999, Journal of biomechanics.

[7]  A. Horwitz,et al.  Cell surface receptors for extracellular matrix molecules. , 1987, Annual review of cell biology.

[8]  G. Borschel,et al.  Contractile Skeletal Muscle Tissue-Engineered on an Acellular Scaffold , 2004, Plastic and reconstructive surgery.

[9]  Gregory M. Fomovsky,et al.  Contribution of extracellular matrix to the mechanical properties of the heart. , 2010, Journal of molecular and cellular cardiology.

[10]  Lan-Fang Zhou,et al.  Targeting Fibrosis in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy , 2010, Journal of neuropathology and experimental neurology.

[11]  Peter P. Purslow,et al.  The morphology and mechanical properties of endomysium in series-fibred muscles: variations with muscle length , 1994, Journal of Muscle Research & Cell Motility.

[12]  Andrew D McCulloch,et al.  Structural and functional roles of desmin in mouse skeletal muscle during passive deformation. , 2004, Biophysical journal.

[13]  M. Kjaer,et al.  Lateral force transmission between human tendon fascicles. , 2008, Matrix biology : journal of the International Society for Matrix Biology.

[14]  S. Sen,et al.  Matrix Elasticity Directs Stem Cell Lineage Specification , 2006, Cell.

[15]  D. E. Discher,et al.  Matrix elasticity directs stem cell lineage — Soluble factors that limit osteogenesis , 2009 .