Miri Amir K, Li Nicole Y K, Avazmohammadi Reza, Thibeault Susan L, Mongrain Rosaire, Mongeau Luc
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, 817 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 0C3, Canada,
Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2015 Jan;14(1):49-57. doi: 10.1007/s10237-014-0585-5. Epub 2014 May 3.
The extracellular matrix (ECM) of the vocal fold tissue consists primarily of fibrous and interstitial proteins. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of selective enzymatic digestion of two ECM proteins, namely elastin and versican, on the elasticity of rabbit vocal fold tissue. Quasi-static, sinusoidal, uniaxial tensile tests were performed. The data were analyzed within the framework of a model of the ECM as a two-phase composite material consisting of collagen fibrils as the reinforcing fibers and noncollagenous ECM proteins as the matrix. To validate the two-phase model, the regression parameters for the fibers' volume fraction and shear modulus in a different animal model were compared with corresponding published data. The proposed model was then used to analyze rabbit vocal fold tissues. The mean value and the standard deviation of the fiber volume fraction were found to be 8.49 ± 3.75 % for the control samples (n = 4), 0.59 ± 1.13 % after elastin removal (n = 4), and 8.22 ± 1.06 % after versican removal (n = 4). The results suggest that elastin removal may lead to a reduction in tissue stiffness, through counteracting the reinforcement of collagen fibrils.
声带组织的细胞外基质（ECM）主要由纤维蛋白和间质蛋白组成。本研究的目的是探讨选择性酶解两种ECM蛋白，即弹性蛋白和多功能蛋白聚糖，对兔声带组织弹性的影响。进行了准静态、正弦、单轴拉伸试验。在一个将ECM视为由胶原纤维作为增强纤维和非胶原ECM蛋白作为基质组成的两相复合材料模型框架内对数据进行了分析。为了验证两相模型，将不同动物模型中纤维体积分数和剪切模量的回归参数与相应的已发表数据进行了比较。然后使用所提出的模型分析兔声带组织。发现对照样本（n = 4）的纤维体积分数平均值和标准差分别为8.49 ± 3.75%，去除弹性蛋白后为0.59 ± 1.13%（n = 4），去除多功能蛋白聚糖后为8.22 ± 1.06%（n = 4）。结果表明，去除弹性蛋白可能通过抵消胶原纤维的增强作用导致组织硬度降低。
