View in EDS

Spatial mapping of collagen fibril organisation in primate cornea—an X-ray diffraction investigation

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Spatial mapping of collagen fibril organisation in primate cornea—an X-ray diffraction investigation
Authors: Boote, Craig bootec@cf.ac.uk, Dennis, Sally1, Meek, Keith1
Source: Journal of Structural Biology. Jun2004, Vol. 146 Issue 3, p359. 9p.
Subjects: Cornea, Collagen, Primates, Marmosets
Abstract: New insights are presented into the collagenous structure of the primate cornea. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction was used to map the fibrillar arrangement and distribution of collagen over three common marmoset corneas. The maps provide a point of reference to help interpret data from pathological corneas or primate models of refractive surgery. The results herein disclose a circum-corneal annulus of highly aligned collagen, 0.5–1.5 mm wide, where the cornea and sclera fuse at the limbus; a feature similar to that observed in human tissue. As in humans, the annulus is not uniform, varying in width, fibril angular spread, and collagen density around its circumference. However, more centrally the marmoset cornea exhibits a preferred lamella orientation in which proportionally more fibrils are oriented along the superior–inferior corneal meridian. This observation is in striking contrast with the situation in human cornea, where there is an orthogonal arrangement of preferentially aligned fibrils. Investigation of a further 16 corneas confirmed that approximately 33% (±1%) (n=76) of fibrils in the central marmoset cornea lie within a 45° sector of the superior–inferior meridian. Implications for the mechanical and optical properties of the cornea are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
Copyright of Journal of Structural Biology is the property of Academic Press Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
Description
Abstract:New insights are presented into the collagenous structure of the primate cornea. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction was used to map the fibrillar arrangement and distribution of collagen over three common marmoset corneas. The maps provide a point of reference to help interpret data from pathological corneas or primate models of refractive surgery. The results herein disclose a circum-corneal annulus of highly aligned collagen, 0.5–1.5 mm wide, where the cornea and sclera fuse at the limbus; a feature similar to that observed in human tissue. As in humans, the annulus is not uniform, varying in width, fibril angular spread, and collagen density around its circumference. However, more centrally the marmoset cornea exhibits a preferred lamella orientation in which proportionally more fibrils are oriented along the superior–inferior corneal meridian. This observation is in striking contrast with the situation in human cornea, where there is an orthogonal arrangement of preferentially aligned fibrils. Investigation of a further 16 corneas confirmed that approximately 33% (±1%) (<f>n=76</f>) of fibrils in the central marmoset cornea lie within a 45° sector of the superior–inferior meridian. Implications for the mechanical and optical properties of the cornea are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
ISSN:10478477
DOI:10.1016/j.jsb.2003.12.009