Figure 3.

Bio-mechanical properties of the skin from wild-type and Cav-1^-/- mice. (A) Typical stress-strain response for wild-type versus Cav-1^-/- dorsal skin. (B) No differences were found in the cross-sectional area between the two groups. (C and D) Determination of tensile strength and modulus in the skin in wild-type and Cav-1^-/- mice. The maximum stress or “tensile strength” is the maximum amount of tensile stress that a body can be subjected to before failure and Young's modulus (slope of elastic region) is related to “stiffness,” the resistance of the material to elastic percent deformation caused by an applied stress. Skin from Cav-1^-/- mice exhibited increased maximum stress (C) and modulus (D), than those from wild-type (C and D). Five animals of each genotype were analyzed. Data are reported as the mean ± SEM (p values are indicated in the graphs, as determined by the Student's t-test).