抄録
Fibrils were isolated from rat tail tendons and tensile tests of the fibrils were performed in the air (dry) condition or in the physiological saline solution (wet) condition. After the fibrils were immersed in the physiological saline solution for 3 and 30 minutes, the fibrils were stretched to failure. There were no significant differences in the tensile properties between 3 and 30 minutes. These results indicate that the fibrils were sufficiently hydrated by the immersion of 3 minutes. The fibrils immersed for 3 minutes showed the tensile strength of 111±31 MPa (Mean±S.E.), strain at failure of 32.1±4.5 %, and tangent modulus of 350±53 MPa. Next, the fibrils were stretched to failure in the air. The dry fibrils showed the tensile strength of 702±137 MPa, strain at failure of 30.4±8.5 %, and tangent modulus of 2720±840 MPa. The tensile strength and tangent modulus of the dry fibrils were significantly larger than those of the wet fibrils. There were no significant differences in the strain at failure between the dry and wet fibrils. These results point to the great importance of water for the tensile properties of collagen fibrils.
