Asundi Krishna, Rempel David
Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
J Vis Exp. 2007(4):209. doi: 10.3791/209. Epub 2007 May 28.
Injuries to the tendon (e.g., wrist tendonitis, epicondyltis) due to overuse are common in sports activities and the workplace. Most are associated with repetitive, high force hand activities. The mechanisms of cellular and structural damage due to cyclical loading are not well known. The purpose of this video is to present a new system that can simultaneously load four tendons in tissue culture. The video describes the methods of sterile tissue harvest and how the tendons are loaded onto a clamping system that is subsequently immersed into media and maintained at 37 degrees C. One clamp is fixed while the other one is moved with a linear actuator. Tendon tensile force is monitored with a load cell in series with the mobile clamp. The actuators are controlled with a LabView program. The four tendons can be repetitively loaded with different patterns of loading, repetition rate, rate of loading, and duration. Loading can continue for a few minutes to 48 hours. At the end of loading, the tendons are removed and the mid-substance extracted for biochemical analyses. This system allows for the investigation of the effects of loading patterns on gene expression and structural changes in tendon. Ultimately, mechanisms of injury due to overuse can be studies with the findings applied to treatment and prevention.
因过度使用导致的肌腱损伤（如手腕腱鞘炎、上髁炎）在体育活动和工作场所中很常见。大多数与重复性、高强度的手部活动有关。周期性负荷导致细胞和结构损伤的机制尚不清楚。本视频的目的是展示一种能够在组织培养中同时对四条肌腱进行加载的新系统。该视频描述了无菌组织采集的方法，以及肌腱如何加载到夹紧系统上，随后将该系统浸入培养基中并保持在37摄氏度。一个夹具固定，另一个夹具由线性致动器移动。肌腱张力通过与移动夹具串联的测力传感器进行监测。致动器由LabView程序控制。四条肌腱可以以不同的加载模式、重复率、加载速率和持续时间进行重复加载。加载可以持续几分钟到48小时。加载结束后，取出肌腱并提取中间部分进行生化分析。该系统有助于研究加载模式对肌腱基因表达和结构变化的影响。最终，可以利用研究结果来研究过度使用导致损伤的机制，并将其应用于治疗和预防。
