Mechanical cues of an interpenetrating polysaccharide matrix regulate self-assembly of collagen fibers
Fatemeh Tavakoli Joorabi, Nicholas J. Derr, Zecheng Li, Bryan A. Nerger, Chris H. Rycroft, David J. Mooney, Kyle H. Vining · 2026
Read Mechanical cues of an interpenetrating polysaccharide matrix regulate self-assembly of collagen fibers by Fatemeh Tavakoli Joorabi, Nicholas J. Derr, Zecheng Li, Bryan A. Nerger, Chris H. Rycroft, David J. Mooney, Kyle H. Vining (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13537267.txt.
Description
Fatemeh Tavakoli Joorabi and six co-authors published a study in 2026 on how the feel of the surrounding jelly shapes collagen fibers. Collagen threads build themselves from loose molecules inside the body's crowded, sugar-rich matrix. Earlier work watched them in plain gels, missing the push and give of a second, woven-in network like the real one.
The team grew collagen inside alginate networks tuned from runny to firm by recipe and cross-link style. Firm, less giving networks slowed and shrank fiber growth, seen under a special microscope that images collagen without stains. Flow through the gels also dropped as give dropped. Simulations of the mechanical grip between network and growing clumps matched the trend, offering tissue engineers a dial for fiber structure.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Fatemeh Tavakoli Joorabi, Nicholas J. Derr, Zecheng Li, Bryan A. Nerger, Chris H. Rycroft, David J. Mooney, Kyle H. Vining |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 63 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |