| Organ level |
|
| Observation |
Macroscopic appearance |
| Scale |
Tendon weight and water content |
| Calipers or micrometer |
Morphometry |
| Mechanical testing |
Low‐ and high‐load mechanical properties |
| Tissue level |
|
| Histology |
Histopathology |
| Immunohistochemistry |
Localisation of cellular and tissue constituents |
| In situ hybridisation |
Localisation of specific DNA or RNA sequences |
| Electron microscopy |
Collagen fibril organisation and morphology, and tenocyte ultrastructure |
| Molecular level |
|
| Microarray analysis |
Transcriptional/translational expression profiling |
| Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) |
Transcriptional expression levels |
| Mass spectrometry |
Chemical composition |
| Chromatography |
Tissue composition |
| Western blots |
Protein expression and modification |
| Electrophoresis |
Protein expression |
