Worm-like chain model extensions for highly stretched tropocollagen molecules

Tropocollagen plays a very important role in the load bearing functionality of soft tissues. In the context of multi-scale modeling the response of tropocollagen molecules to stretch should be very carefully predicted in order to describe the mechanical behavior of soft tissues. To this end, the worm-like chain (WLC) model is often applied, although it is restricted to the entropic force regime which is essential at moderate deformations. To describe molecular forces under larger stretches several extensions of the WLC have been proposed for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
Source: Journal of Biomechanics - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research