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Detection of age-related changes in tendon molecular composition by Raman spectroscopy—potential for rapid, non-invasive assessment of susceptibility to injury

Yin, NH; Parker, AW; Matousek, P; Birch, HL; (2020) Detection of age-related changes in tendon molecular composition by Raman spectroscopy—potential for rapid, non-invasive assessment of susceptibility to injury. International Journal of Molecular Sciences , 21 (6) , Article 2150. 10.3390/ijms21062150. Green open access

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Abstract

The lack of clinical detection tools at the molecular level hinders our progression in preventing age-related tendon pathologies. Raman spectroscopy can rapidly and non-invasively detect tissue molecular compositions and has great potential for in vivo applications. In biological tissues, a highly fluorescent background masks the Raman spectral features and is usually removed during data processing, but including this background could help age differentiation since fluorescence level in tendons increases with age. Therefore, we conducted a stepwise analysis of fluorescence and Raman combined spectra for better understanding of the chemical differences between young and old tendons. Spectra were collected from random locations of vacuum-dried young and old equine tendon samples (superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) and deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT), total n = 15) under identical instrumental settings. The fluorescence-Raman spectra showed an increase in old tendons as expected. Normalising the fluorescence-Raman spectra further indicated a potential change in intra-tendinous fluorophores as tendon ages. After fluorescence removal, the pure Raman spectra demonstrated between-group differences in CH2 bending (1450 cm-1) and various ring-structure and carbohydrate-associated bands (1000-1100 cm-1), possibly relating to a decline in cellular numbers and an accumulation of advanced glycation end products in old tendons. These results demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy can successfully detect age-related tendon molecular differences.

Type: Article
Title: Detection of age-related changes in tendon molecular composition by Raman spectroscopy—potential for rapid, non-invasive assessment of susceptibility to injury
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21062150
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21062150
Language: English
Additional information: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords: Tendinopathy; ageing; Raman spectroscopy; collagen; autofluorescence; glycation
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Surgery and Interventional Sci
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Surgery and Interventional Sci > Department of Ortho and MSK Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Med Phys and Biomedical Eng
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10094583
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