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Study of Nano-Mechanics of Collagen I Triple-helices by Computerized Processing of AFM Images

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2012

Arkady Bitler
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, P.O.B. 26, Rehovot, Israel, 76100
Emanuel Perugia
Affiliation:
Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, P.O.B. 26, Rehovot, Israel, 76100
Sidney R. Cohen
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, P.O.B. 26, Rehovot, Israel, 76100
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Abstract

We used atomic force microscope (AFM) to acquire high-resolution images of collagen type I triple-helices under ambient conditions in tapping mode. Angles between consecutive fixed-length segments were measured and analyzed to yield persistence length and elastic constant. Changing the segment length allowed exploring the mechanics at various scales. Understanding the mechanical properties of collagen molecules could serve to elucidate mechanisms of complex mechanical properties of interest in nanomedicine and nanotechnology.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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References

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