Abstract
X-ray scattering enables the structure of collagen-rich tissues, such as the cornea, to be examined at both the molecular and fibrillar level. The high-intensity X-rays available at synchrotron radiation sources, coupled with minimal sample preparation requirements, facilitates the rapid generation of high-quality X-ray scattering data from corneal tissue at a close-to-physiological state of hydration. Analysis of resulting X-ray scatter patterns allows one to quantify numerous structural parameters relating to the average diameter, lateral arrangement and alignment of collagen fibrils within the cornea, as well as the axial and lateral arrangements of collagen molecules within the fibrils. Here we describe the typical experimental setup and considerations involved in the collection of X-ray scattering data from corneal tissue.
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Acknowledgements
Our corneal X-ray program has been supported by many organizations, but principally by the UK Medical Research Council (Grants G0001033; G0600755MR; MR/K000837/1 and MR/S037829/1).
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Meek, K.M., Quantock, A.J., Hayes, S., Bell, J. (2020). X-Ray Diffraction Imaging of Corneal Ultrastructure. In: Ahearne, M. (eds) Corneal Regeneration. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2145. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0599-8_16
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