Cutting – Edge | Julianna Wayne
Biomedical Engineering – Undergraduate Student
Confocal Microscopy (Portrait)
A scalped Achilles tendon was imaged using confocal microscopy to visualize damage to the underlying collagen matrix, which is shown in white. The wavy pattern of the collagen fibers is created by tightly bound collagen triple helices and damage to the collagen matrix causes these helices to unwind. The red nanoparticles bind to single helix collagen at the border of tendon damage. These nanoparticles, known as collagen-like peptides, are the ‘cutting-edge’ of drug delivery for tendon damage because they selectively bind to damaged collagen and can release therapeutic drugs locally to ultimately reduce dam age.