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. 2022 Oct 27;17(10):e0271776. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271776

Fig 4. Second harmonic generation collagen architecture.

Fig 4

Collagen architecture is altered in dystrophic muscle and relates to passive mechanics. (A) Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) representative images of diaphragm and EDL muscle sections from young, adult, wildtype, and mdx mice. Colormap represents angles of each pixel window in the images as analyzed by OrientationJ. Scale bar is 100μm. (B) The mdx EDL had significantly lower collagen deviation (higher alignment) compared to the wildtype. (C) Collagen fiber area was increased in mdx diaphragms compared to wildtype. Adult EDL muscles had higher collagen fiber area than young EDL muscles. (D) All groups combined had a significant positive correlation of collagen deviation and elastic stiffness. The EDL had an independent significant negative correlation. (E) Collagen fiber area correlated positively with elastic stiffness across all muscles. Significance by genotype: *p<0.05and age: #p<0.05.