The structures and mechanical properties of human tissues are significantly influenced by the environment condition and pathologic condition. The functionality of human cornea can be linked to the collagen fibers. In the work, morphological and mechanical property variations of different layers of human cornea, (stroma/Descement's membrane), have been revealed by quantitative nano-mechanical atomic force microscopy (QNM AFM). It is found that the collagen fibers in stroma tissues show the specific periodicity and the stiffness of giga-Pa magnitude in 40% humidity; however, under fully hydration condition, the collagen fibers clearly show nanoparticle structures along the fibers with the stiffness in mega-Pa magnitude. More interesting, the collagens in Descement's membrane mutated by the Fuch's endothelium dystrophy disease formed the super collagens, which had larger size and lower Young's modulus comparing to the normal ones. The interplay of structures and nanomechanical mapping can be applied for the future diagnosis and assessment or even pathologic analysis.

Human corneal stroma and Descement's membrane revealed by quantitative nano-mechanical atomic force microscopy at nanoscale

248th National Meeting (2014)

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