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Twang!
11 August 2012

Twang!

He's in the lead, just metres away from grabbing gold, then suddenly the athlete crumples, any hope of finishing the event dashed. With an awkward step an agonising tendon sprain has sealed the fate of a number of the world’s fittest competitors, including a horse, during the London Olympics. Tendons are pale, glistening cables lashing muscle to bone. Acting like elastic springs they protect muscles from overstretching, by preventing joints from bending too far, but in so doing can themselves be injured. Pictured is a damaged ox tail tendon, its parallel strands of collagen protein viewed using electron microscopy. The tight ball of recoiled broken fibres highlights the energy-absorbing nature of this tissue. Scientists find that when injured, damage signals spread along the tendon’s strands. They believe this increases the likelihood of specialised cells detecting and repairing the injury. And perhaps explains why sprains, while immediately excruciating, recover relatively quickly.

Written by Lindsey Goff

Published in Biophysical Journal, 102(12): 2876–2884

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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