As the concentration of collagen cross-links in our tissues increases, does the tissue stiffness
increase or decrease?
Answers
Answer:
Increases
Explanation:
Because tissue stiffness is due to collagen cross links, as you studied in dense irregular tissue
The type is RETICULAR TISSUE
Answer:
As the concentration of collagen crosslinks in our tissue increases, tissue stiffness also increases.
Collagen is the “glue” of our body which provides elasticity and strength to most tissues where mechanical function is essential, such as skin, cartilage, tendons and bones. It represents a basic building block within nearly every tissue and organ.
Collagen structures form largely by cell-mediated self-assembly of small collagen. During the process of collagen self-assembly, various types of inter-molecular crosslinks stabilize the helical supra-molecular structures that form. Collagen crosslinks can be either enzymatic or non-enzymatic, with enzymatic crosslinking representing an essential step in the development and repair of collagen connective tissues. While with non-enzymatic crosslinking collagen is the major target of glycation i.e. formation of Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs). In this reducing sugars, such as glucose and ribose, react with the amino groups of collagen and other proteins and form cross-linked AGEs in the tissue. These AGEs accumulate over time and lead to the functional impairment of the tissue. Tissue becomes stiffer as a result of their increased quantity of extracellular matrix, in particular fibrillar collagens.
Therefore, it is said that nonenzymatic crosslink is able to drastically change the mechanical properties of collagen tissues, inducing increased stiffness and decreased toughness.