Mark Buckley, University of Rochester

The Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Tendon Impingement

Speaker: Mark Buckley, University of Rochester

Host: Catherine Kuo

Abstract:

While the primary function of tendons is to transmit tensile (pulling) forces from muscle to rigid bone to enable movement, many tendons also wrap around bones or other soft tissues and experience compressive forces at sites where they are impinged by these structures. Impingement triggers a biological response that locally transforms tendon into “fibrocartilage”, an intermediate tissue with characteristics of both tendon and cartilage. Unfortunately, excessive tendon impingement leading to aberrant fibrocartilage formation is implicated as a causative factor in several painful diseases including insertional Achilles tendinopathy (IAT). Despite the scientific and clinical importance of tendon impingement and its biological sequelae, the biomechanics and mechanobiology of tendon impingement have received little attention. In this seminar, I will discuss our lab's efforts to address this knowledge gap.

First, I will describe our application of techniques ranging from ultrasound elastography to computational modeling in order to characterize the multiscale mechanical environment produced by tendon impingement and elucidate how strain patterns in impinged tendon regions are altered by disease (e.g., IAT) or by exercise interventions intended to reverse disease symptoms. Next, I will summarize our more recent work aimed at elucidating the underlying pathways through which impingement-generated micromechanical strains trigger excessive fibrocartilage formation leading to tendon dysfunction. Ultimately, by elucidating the key processes responsible for impingement-induced tendon alterations, our research could identify new avenues for treatment of IAT and other tendinopathies thought to be driven by impingement.

Seminars start at 4:00 pm, and refreshments will be served at 3:45 pm. All seminars are held in the Conference Room (1116) of the Institute for Physical Science and Technology (IPST) Building (Bldg #085) unless otherwise noted.