Fabrication of artificial tendon matrices composed of aligned collagen fibrils with heterogeneous diameters and mechanism of tendon reconstruction in the matrices

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24500534
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Biomedical engineering/Biological material science
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Principal Investigator: YUNOKI Shunji 地方独立行政法人東京都立産業技術研究センター, 開発本部開発第二部バイオ応用技術グループ, 主任研究員 (20399398)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 安田 和則 北海道大学, 大学院医学研究科 (20166507) ; 近藤 英司 北海道大学, 大学院医学研究科 (60374724) ; 畑山 博哉 東京都立産業技術研究センター (80614552)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: コラーゲン / 人工腱 / 再構築 / 配向 / せん断

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have developed a novel fabrication method to create a thick collagen bundle with a thickness of 3 mm composed of uniaxially aligned fibrils mimicking the fundamental structure of native tendon. The fabrication method involved shearing of dense collagen sols upon accelerated fibril formation, allowing fabrication of the thick collagen bundle of aligned fibrils (CGAF) without destruction. The aligned collagen fibrils provided mechanical anisotropy similar to that of tendon tissues, which can be recognized by living cells. CGAF implanted into rabbit patellar tendon showed no infiltration of cells, resulted in no change of mechanical properties. The present study generalized a fabrication method of an artificial tendon matrix of which the collagen structure mimicking fundamental structure of native tendon and, furthermore, suggested that an ideal artificial tendon requires a hierarchical collagen structure facilitating cell infiltration.

Free Research Field

生体材料