Direct determination of the role of aponeurosis in modulating muscle mechanics

 描述(申请人提供)：与肌肉串联和平行的弹性组织对肌肉力学和能量学有深远的影响。包括筋膜和筋膜在内的平面弹性组织与肌肉紧密相连，直到最近我们才开始了解它们对肌力、速度和力量的影响程度。通过在很大一部分肌腹周围形成鞘，肌腱膜被假设为控制肌肉在收缩期间经历的形状变化，但这一点从未得到直接测试。通过这种对肌肉形状的影响，腱膜可能会调节收缩的速度和力量。结缔组织硬度的变化会随着年龄和疾病的变化而发生，可能会干扰腱膜将肌肉形状的变化与肌肉需求相匹配的能力，这可能在破坏性的伸长收缩中产生有害的影响。通过改变腱膜的结构和硬度，这个项目将直接研究腱膜在调节肌肉形状变化中的作用，并测试手术干预后或因损伤、年龄或疾病而发生的类似变化如何影响肌肉收缩的机制。这项研究还将探索腱膜僵硬改变与肌肉损伤之间的联系，以解决与年龄或疾病相关的腱膜特性的变化是否会增加肌肉对损伤的易感性。这项拟议的实验将使用一种新的3D成像技术来可视化在火鸡的原位肌肉准备中肌肉形状、肌肉长度和纤维长度的动态变化。本项目的具体目标是：1)确定腱膜平面结构在维持肌内压力和调节肌力和速度方面的作用；2)确定腱膜僵硬在调节肌力和速度以及防止肌肉损伤中的作用。建议的实验结果有可能改善手术结果，并为针对损伤或疾病后结缔组织特性的康复策略提供参考。这项拟议的工作将为未来的研究奠定基础，研究平面结缔组织如何整合肌肉内和肌肉之间以及肢体节段之间的功能，并将平面结缔组织整合到人体运动的肌肉骨骼模型中，以进一步探索与损伤、年龄、疾病或手术干预相关的结缔组织属性的改变如何改变肌肉和运动功能。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Elastic tissues in series and in parallel with muscle have a profound influence on muscle mechanics and energetics. Planar elastic tissues including aponeurosis and fascia are intimately connected with muscles and only recently have we begun to understand the extent of their influence on muscle force, speed, and power. By forming a sheath around a large portion of the muscle belly, aponeurosis is hypothesized to govern the shape changes that muscle undergoes during contractions but this has never been directly tested. Through this influence on muscle shape, the aponeurosis may modulate the speed and force of contraction. Changes in connective tissue stiffness occur with age and disease and may interfere with the aponeurosis' ability to match muscle shape changes to muscle demand, which could have detrimental effects during damaging lengthening contractions. By modifying the structure and stiffness of the aponeurosis, this project will directly examine the role of aponeurosis in modulating muscle shape changes and test how similar alterations occurring after surgical intervention or with injury, age, or disease influence the mechanics of muscle contraction. This study will also explore the link between altered aponeurosis stiffness and muscle damage to address whether changes in aponeurosis properties related to age or disease increase the muscle's susceptibility to injury. The proposed experiment will use a novel 3D imaging technique to visualize the dynamic changes in muscle shape, muscle length, and fiber length in an in situ muscle preparation in a turkey. The specific aims of this project are: 1 to determine the role of the planar structure of aponeurosis in maintaining intramuscular pressure and modulating muscle force and speed during contractions; 2) to determine the role of aponeurosis stiffness in modulating muscle force and speed and preventing muscle damage. The results of the proposed experiments have the potential to improve surgical outcomes and inform rehabilitative strategies targeting connective tissue properties after injury or disease. Th proposed work will form the basis for future research investigating how planar connective tissues integrate function within and among muscles and between limb segments and incorporating planar connective tissues into musculoskeletal models of human movement to further explore how modifications of connective tissue properties related to injury, age, disease, or surgical intervention alter muscle and locomotor function.