The use of collagen scaffold in tissue engineering is on the rise, as modifications to mechanical properties are becoming more effective in strengthening constructs whilst preserving the natural biocompatibility. The combined technique of plastic compression and cross-linking is known to increase the mechanical strength of the collagen construct. Here, a modified protocol for engineering these ...

UNLABELLED It has been suggested that age-related deterioration in trabecular microarchitecture and changes in collagen cross-link concentrations may contribute to skeletal fragility. To further explore this hypothesis, we determined the relationships among trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV), microarchitecture, collagen cross-link content, and bone turnover in human vertebral trabecular bo...

Electrospun scaffolds fabricated from poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL)/collagen composite are promising candidates for vascular graft applications. In order to improve the biocompatibility and mechanical strength of PCL/collagen scaffolds, two different cross-linking methods were applied and compared: (1) 2.5% glutaraldehyde (GA) vapor cross-linking for 6 h and (2) genipin (GN) crosslinking for...

PURPOSE Current literature contains scant information regarding the extent of enzymatic collagen cross-linking in the keratoconus (KC) cornea. The aim of the present study was to examine levels of enzymatic lysyl oxidase-derived cross-links in stromal collagen in KC tissue, and to correlate the cross-link levels with collagen fibril stability as determined by thermal denaturation temperature (T...

Maternal obesity (MO) has harmful effects on both fetal development and subsequent offspring health. We previously demonstrated that MO enhances collagen accumulation in fetal skeletal muscle, but its impact on mature offspring muscle collagen accumulation is unknown. Ewes were fed either a control diet (Con, fed 100% of NRC nutrient recommendations) or obesogenic diet (OB, fed 150% of NRC nutr...

We examined intramuscular endomysial collagen, cross-linking, and advanced glycation end products, as well as the general and contractile protein concentration of 20 young (25 +/- 3 yr) and 22 old (78 +/- 6 yr, range: 70-93 yr) sedentary men and women to better understand the underlying basis of changes in skeletal muscle mass and function that occur with aging. The old individuals had an impai...

Aminoguanidine (AG) is a nucleophilic compound that inhibits nonenzymatic, glucose-derived collagen cross-linking in animal tissues. Whether AG can attenuate the accumulation of collagen cross-links in the Biceps femoris muscle of 64-wk-old broiler breeder hens as well as improve meat quality, was investigated. Eighty-four broiler breeder hens (30-wk-old) were divided into four equal groups. Ea...

Nonenzymatic glycation of connective tissue matrix proteins is a major contributor to the pathology of diabetes and aging. Previously the author and colleagues have shown that nonenzymatic glycation significantly enhances the matrix stability in the Achilles tendon (Reddy et al., 2002, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 399, 174-180). The present study was designed to gain further insight into glycation-...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether torasemide modifies collagen cross-linking in the failing human heart. We analyzed the degree of cross-linking and the expression of the enzyme lysyl oxidase, which regulates cross-linking, in the myocardium of patients with chronic heart failure at baseline and after 8 months of treatment with either torasemide or furosemide in addition to their...

Decreased E2 levels after menopause cause bone loss through increased penetrative resorption. The reversal effect of E2 substitution therapy is well documented in vivo, although the detailed mechanism of action is not fully understood. To study the effects of E2 on bone resorption, we developed a novel in vitro bone resorption assay in which degradation of inorganic and organic matrix could be ...