Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33045519›Full record

ArticleJournal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials2021

Dysregulated assembly of elastic fibers in fibulin-5 knockout mice results in a tendon-specific increase in elastic modulus.

Jeremy D Eekhoff, Heiko Steenbock, Ian M Berke, Jürgen Brinckmann, Hiromi Yanagisawa, Jessica E Wagenseil, Spencer P Lake

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Tendon mechanobiology in the context of tendon biofabrication.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Jeremy D EekhoffDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, USA.
Heiko SteenbockInstitute of Virology and Cell Biology, University of Lübeck, Germany.
Ian M BerkeDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, USA.
Jürgen BrinckmannInstitute of Virology and Cell Biology, University of Lübeck, Germany; Department of Dermatology, University of Lübeck, Germany.
Hiromi YanagisawaLife Science Center for Survival Dynamics, Tsukuba Advanced Research Alliance, University of Tsukuba, Japan.
Jessica E WagenseilDepartment of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Washington University in St. Louis, USA.
Spencer P LakeDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, USA; Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Washington University in St. Louis, USA; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis, USA. Electronic address: lake.s@wustl.edu.
Washington University in St. Louis · USUniversity of Lübeck · DEUniversity of Tsukuba · JP

Funding

Skeletal Disorders Training ProgramT32AR060719 · NIAMS · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI Roberto Civitelli · 2011 to 2026
$4.6M
Intra-Articular Delivery of Sustained Release NF-kB Antagonists In ArthritisR01AR070975 · NIAMS · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI SETTON, LORI A. · 2017 to 2021
$1.7M
INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING IN MECHANOBIOLOGY FROM NM TO CMT32EB018266 · NIBIB · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI BAYLY, PHILIP V · 2014 to 2018
$987k
NIAMS NIH HHS R01 AR070975NIAMS NIH HHS T32 AR060719NIBIB NIH HHS T32 EB018266
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Elastic fiber assembly is coordinated in part by fibulin-5, a matricellular protein. When fibulin-5 is not available to guide elastogenesis, elastin forms into disconnected globules instead of the dense elastic fiber core found in healthy tissues. Despite the growing evidence for a significant role of elastic fibers in tendon mechanics and the clinical relevance to cutis laxa, a human disease which can be caused by a mutation in the gene encoding fibulin-5, it is unknown how malformed elastic fibers affect tendon function. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of dysregulated elastic fiber assembly in tendons from fibulin-5 knockout mice in comparison to wild-type controls. Due to evidence for a more prominent role of elastic fibers in tendons with higher functional demands, both the energy-storing Achilles tendon and the more positional tibialis anterior tendon were evaluated. The linear modulus of knockout Achilles tendons was increased compared to controls, yet there was no discernible change in mechanical properties of the tibialis anterior tendon across genotypes. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of malformed elastic fibers in knockout tendons while no other changes to tendon composition or structure were found. The mechanism behind the increase in linear modulus in fibulin-5 knockout Achilles tendons may be greater collagen engagement due to decreased regulation of strain-induced structural reorganization. These findings support the theory of a significant, functionally distinct role of elastic fibers in tendon mechanics.

Indexed as

Elastic TissueExtracellular Matrix ProteinsAnimalsCalcium-Binding ProteinsElastic ModulusMiceMice, KnockoutTendonsCalcium-Binding ProteinsExtracellular Matrix ProteinsfibulinBiomechanicsElastic fiberFibulin-5MusculoskeletalOrthopaedicTendon

Identifiers

PMID33045519
PMCPMC8146012
OpenAlexW3092143368

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.