Browsing > By author > Hayes Thomas

Mechanical loading is a well-established mediator of growth in muscle tissue. Interestingly, growth has been observed to occur both in along and perpendicular to the direction of loading. Currently the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are not well understood. Muscle tissue-specific characteristics, such as microstructure, mechanical properties, and geometry critically influence how growth patterns are biologically mediated in response to mechanical stimuli. In this study, we elucidate these growth patterns in a thermodynamic context.

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Subcellular structures play a key role in informing muscle tissue growth. The contractile structures of muscle tissue, known as myofibrils, exhibit specific growth regimes: surface growth occurs in the transverse direction, while damage-induced bulk growth occurs in the longitudinal direction. The dynamics of these growth regimes are influenced by the availability of proteins within the cell, the active stress generation, and mechanical damage.

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By introducing a suitable setting to describe surface growth and damage at the level of myofibrils, we provide a thermodynamic framework for muscle tissue responses to mechanical loading, offering significant potential for advancing the understanding and treatment of diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sarcopenia, and muscular dystrophy.

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References \newline

[1] McEvoy, E., Deshpande, V.S. & McGarry, P. Transient active force generation and stress fibre remodelling in cells under cyclic loading. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 18, 921–937 (2019). \newline

[2] Zurlo G., Truskinovsky L.; Inelastic surface growth, Mechanics Research Communications 93,174–179 (2018) \newline

[3] Vigliotti, A., Ronan, W., Baaijens, F.P.T. et al. A thermodynamically motivated model for stress-fiber reorganization. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 15, 761–789 (2016). \newline