Fig. 4.

Quantified MCT mechanics. (A and B) Averaged maximum tangent modulus (A) and maximum stress (B) for control (ASW; black; n = 4), stiffened (KASW; red; n = 4), and softened (CaF-ASW; blue; n = 3) specimens from MCT dermis. Error bars are SDs. n denotes the number of samples in each treatment group. At the tissue level, stiffened MCT always exhibits remarkably higher mechanical properties compared with the control group, and for the softened one, the binned maximum tangent modulus and the maximum stress are almost negligible. (C and D) At the fibrillar level, the fibril strain (C) and the ratio of the fibril strain to tissue strain (D, the fraction of the deformation taken up at the fibril level) for the stiffened, control, and softened MCT follow the same trend with properties at the tissue level.