Name: preparation of rat tail tendons for biomechanical and mechanobiological studies
Uploaded: 2010-07-30T17:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Preparation of Rat Tail Tendons for Biomechanical and Mechanobiological Studies at JoVE.com

This article was supported by NSERC Grant # 299280, IRSST as a scholarship to G. Parent and FRSQ as an undergraduate student research award to M. Cyr. We thank Yoan Lemieux-Laneville for performing the manipulations recorded on video.

Prior to any manipulation, you must identify the group of tendons to be used depending on the experiment you are conducting and the apparatus at your disposition. For our purposes, ventral tendons were chosen because they are smaller and thus easier to manipulate when measuring the cross-sectional area and fitting them into the bioreactor chamber.
Please note that all instruments are autoclaved or sterilized with 70% ethanol. Moreover, a spray bottle containing 70% ethanol is placed beside ea...

<ol>
	<li>Bennett, M. B., Ker, R., Dimery, N., Alexander, R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Mechanical+properties+of+various+mammalian+tendons.">Mechanical properties of various mammalian tendons.</a> J. Zool. Lond. A209, 537-548 (1986).</li><li>Dupuis, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=.">.</a> D&#233;shydratation de matrices collag&#233;niques reconstruites in vitro: effets sur les propri&#233;t&#233;s m&#233;caniques et histologiques [dissertation]. , 114-114 (1981).</li><li>Haut, R. C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Age-dependent+influence+of+strain+rate+on+the+tensile+failure+of+rat+tail+tendon.">Age-dependent influence of strain rate on the tensile failure of rat tail tendon.</a> Journal of Biomechanical Engineering. 105, 296-299 (1983).</li><li>Hupp&#233;, N., Lessard, J. -. L., Langelier, E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+Bioreactor+Design+for+the+Mechanobiological+Study+of+Soft+Tissue+Damage+and+Repair+in+Conditions+that+Provide+the+Best+Approximation+of+Actual+Use.">A Bioreactor Design for the Mechanobiological Study of Soft Tissue Damage and Repair in Conditions that Provide the Best Approximation of Actual Use.</a> , (1985).</li><li>Langelier, E., Dupuis, D., Guillot, M., Goulet, F. &. a. m. p. ;. a. m. p., Rancourt, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Cross-sectional+profiles+and+volume+reconstructions+of+soft+tissues+using+laser+beam+measurements.">Cross-sectional profiles and volume reconstructions of soft tissues using laser beam measurements.</a> J Biomech Eng. 126, 796-802 (2004).</li><li>Lee, T. Q., Woo, S. L. -. Y. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+new+method+for+determining+cross-sectional+shape+and+area+of+soft+tissues.">A new method for determining cross-sectional shape and area of soft tissues.</a> J Biomech Eng. 110, 110-114 (1988).</li><li>Parent, G., Cyr, M., Cousineau-Pelletier, P., Desbiens-Blais, F. &. a. m. p. ;. a. m. p., Langelier, E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Current+Techniques+for+the+Evaluation+of+Cross-Sectional+Area+in+Rat+Tail+Tendons+Generate+Significant+Errors.">Current Techniques for the Evaluation of Cross-Sectional Area in Rat Tail Tendons Generate Significant Errors.</a> , (1985).</li></ol>

By applying those experimental procedures, we can conduct a wide variety of in vitro studies on this kind of tissues. As for example, a study on tissue degeneration was carried out by the application of under-stimulation to RTTs for a period of ten days. Each day, we evaluated tissue mechanical properties in non-destructive stress relaxation tests. At the end, we were able to observe RTT stress variation and thus analyze the progression of mechanical properties.
<img src="/files/ftp_...

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		<thead>
		<tr>
		<th>Material Name</th>
		<th>Type</th>
		<th>Company</th>
		<th>Catalogue Number</th>
		<th>Comment</th>
		</tr>
		</thead>
		<tbody>
		
<tr>
<td>D-PBS </td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Wisent inc.</td>
<td>311-410-CL</td>
<td>Saline solution</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Glucose </td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Wisent inc. </td>
<td>609-037-EL </td>
<td>Saline solution
 1g/L</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Antibiotics-antimycotics </td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Invitrogen Corp.</td>
<td>15240-062 </td>
<td>Saline solution
 1%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DMEM</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Invitrogen Corp.</td>
<td>12800-017</td>
<td>Culture solution</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sodium Bicarbonate</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Wisent inc.</td>
<td>600-105-CG</td>
<td>Culture solution 3.7g/L</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>FBS</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Wisent inc.</td>
<td>090150</td>
<td>Culture solution 10%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Antibiotics-antimycotics</td>
<td>Reagent</td>
<td>Invitrogen Corp.</td>
<td>15240-062</td>
<td>Culture solution 1%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Optic Micrometer</td>
<td>Tool</td>
<td>Custom-made</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Manipulation plate</td>
<td>Tool</td>
<td>Custom-made</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<tr>
<td>Bioreactor chamber</td>
<td>Tool</td>
<td>Custom-made</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>		</tbody>
		</table>
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preparation of rat tail tendons for biomechanical and mechanobiological studies

Rat tail tendons (RTTs) are a common biological model used in experimental in vitro studies in the fields of tendon physiology and tendinopathy. Working with those tissues is challenging because they are very fragile, and until now there was no rigorously detailed protocol for their isolation.
Faced with these challenges, we have developed methods and instruments to facilitate manipulation of RTTs and control tissue viability, sterility and integrity. This article describes the experimental procedures used to prepare RTTs for biomechanical and mechanobiological studies. Our work is divided into four main steps: extraction, cross-sectional area measurement, rinsing and loading into the bioreactor chamber.
At each step, all procedures, materials and manipulations are presented in detail so that they can be easily reproduced. Moreover, the specific instruments developed are presented: a manipulation plate used to segregate RTTs, an optic micrometer to position the tissue during the cross-sectional area measurement and an anchoring system to attach the RTTs onto a bioreactor.
Finally, we describe the results obtained after multiple tests to validate our methods. The viability, sterility and integrity evaluations demonstrate that our procedures are sufficiently rigorous for manipulations of fragile tissues such as rat tail tendons.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Preparation of Rat Tail Tendons for Biomechanical and Mechanobiological Studies at JoVE.com

Preparation of Rat Tail Tendons for Biomechanical and Mechanobiological Studies

This article describes the experimental procedures used to prepare rat tail tendons for biomechanical and mechanobiological studies. Several features of the main steps in preparation are demonstrated, beginning with extraction, cross-sectional area measurement, rinsing and loading into the bioreactor chamber.

Rat tail tendons (RTTs) are a common biological model used in experimental in vitro studies in the fields of tendon physiology and tendinopathy. Working ...

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