BIOPHYSICAL THEORY AND MODELING |
A Structural, Kinetic Model of Soft Tissue Thermomechanics
Triantafyllos Stylianopoulos 1, Alptekin Aksan 1 and Victor H. Barocas 1*
1 University of Minnesota
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: baroc001{at}umn.edu.
Submitted on April 27, 2007
Revised on July 10, 2007
Accepted on 17 August 2007
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Abstract |
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A structure-based kinetic model was developed to predict the thermomechanical response of collagenous soft tissues. The collagen fibril was represented as an ensemble of molecular arrays with cross-links connecting the collagen molecules within the same array. A two-state kinetic model for protein folding was employed to represent the native and the denatured states of the 5 collagen molecule. Monte-Carlo method was used to determine the state of the collagen molecule when subjected to thermal and mechanical loads. The model predictions were compared to existing experimental data for the New Zealand white rabbit patellar tendons. The model predictions for 1-D tissue shrinkage and the corresponding mechanical property degradation agreed well with the experimental data, showing that the gross tissue behavior is 10 dictated by molecular level phenomena.
Key Words:
Monte Carlo, collagen, shrinkage, thermal denaturation, thermomechanics, two-state model
