Multi-functionality of collagen fibrils may provide nanomechanical heterogeneity in bone in addition to clues to the Wolff’s law

Single collagen fibrils, with as small as 50 nm in diameter, are the main organic component of bone. They are the most abundant proteins in mammals with multifunctional tasks in tissues with different mechanical requirement such as bone, tendon, cornea, and skin. In a series of experimental studies at the nanoscale on individual collagen fibrils, we show that the characteristic banding pattern of ~67 nm in axial direction of a single collagen fibril, i.e. the gap and overlap regions, is the main cause of multifunctionality of collagen fibrils. They provide the smallest scale of nanomechanical heterogeneity in related tissues. In addition, they give the collagen fibril its unique piezoelectric behavior that may provide basis for the Wolff’s law on bone growth and remodeling.

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