The biomechanics of amnion rupture: an X-ray diffraction study

Connon, C. J., Nakamura, T., Hopkinson, A., Quantock, A., Yagi, N., Doutch, J. and Meek, K. M. (2007) The biomechanics of amnion rupture: an X-ray diffraction study. PLoS ONE, 2 (11). e1147. ISSN 1932-6203 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001147

Abstract/Summary

Pre-term birth is the leading cause of perinatal and neonatal mortality, 40% of which are attributed to the pre-term premature rupture of amnion. Rupture of amnion is thought to be associated with a corresponding decrease in the extracellular collagen content and/or increase in collagenase activity. However, there is very little information concerning the detailed organisation of fibrillar collagen in amnion and how this might influence rupture. Here we identify a loss of lattice like arrangement in collagen organisation from areas near to the rupture site, and present a 9% increase in fibril spacing and a 50% decrease in fibrillar organisation using quantitative measurements gained by transmission electron microscopy and the novel application of synchrotron X-ray diffraction. These data provide an accurate insight into the biomechanical process of amnion rupture and highlight X-ray diffraction as a new and powerful tool in our understanding of this process.

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Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/20415
Identification Number/DOI	10.1371/journal.pone.0001147
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > School of Pharmacy > Division of Pharmacology Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF) > Electron Microscopy Laboratory (CAF)
Additional Information	The full text of this article is freely available via PMC using the link supplied in Related URLs
Publisher	Public Library of Science
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